The Abbasid caliph, in whose name the slain Mamluk sultan had ruled, brings the sacred cloak and standard of the Prophet to Constantinople to signify that the Ottomans are now the protectors of Islamic pilgrims and of all Islam in general.

Selim, taking no reprisals against the defeated Mamluks, makes many of them officials in his administration.

Legend has the caliph conferring his title and power on Selim (though he and his successors will decline to claim the position of caliph, or religious leader of Islam, until the late eighteenth century).

In a single sweep, Selim has doubled the size of his empire, adding to it all the lands of the old Islamic Caliphate with the exception of Iran, which remains under the Safavids, and Mesopotamia (which will be taken by his successor).

Henceforth, Ottomans not only have a rampart against eastern invaders but also control the Tabriz-Aleppo and Tabriz-Bursa silk trade routes.

One of the major reasons for the Mamluk decline has been Portuguese discoveries in India and the establishment of a sea route around southern Africa in place of the partly land-based route through the Middle East.

It now remains for the Ottomans to restore the full prosperity of their Middle Eastern dominions by countering Portuguese naval activities in the Eastern seas that seek to prevent European shippers from using the old routes, a campaign that will have some success well into the sixteenth century.