The thing is that during this era the Shia/Sunni divide wasn't originally as sharp as it would become when the Safavids transformed the mainstream Shia faith. It was certainly possible to both honor the imams and even Ali without considering yourself a Shiite in Persia and India in the 15th century. The conflict between the two camps would be very much re-actualized by the take over of Persia by a Sufi religious order known as the Safawiya (later they would transform into the Safavid dynasty) which reshaped both Persia and the general conception of the Shia faith a great deal (and also set about mass converting the Persian population to this faith in a rather violent way). This way they could create an element to bind their newly created nation together as well as attract the often shia-leaning quizilbash tribesmen of persia and asia minor to fight in their armies.
In modern times Shia and Sunni followers are all very eager to claim different historical dynasties though, which is why for instance the Black Sheep/Qara Koyunlu are often listed as Shiite despite this being a stretch at best.
The Shiite religion in the game certainly seem to be meant to be interpreted as the militant/nationalistic Safavid faith rather than the less organized Shiite sects before that. Atleast this seems to be the case with the in-game shiite religion as a religion of state. Also far too many provinces are listed as majority Shiite from the start in the game (but given how the vanilla mechanics work that might still be a good idea, we do want Persia to be Shiite, right?
).
Imho shia/sunni state religion conversion shouldn't be allowed other than at the point of a sword. Most of the time people would just leave and join the Safavid armies, this was certainly the case with the shiites of asia minor (and this is why the Ottoman Empire initially had such a problem with the Safavids in Persia, a conflict which would continue to grow even after the Safavids lost their image of religious extremism).
In modern times Shia and Sunni followers are all very eager to claim different historical dynasties though, which is why for instance the Black Sheep/Qara Koyunlu are often listed as Shiite despite this being a stretch at best.
The Shiite religion in the game certainly seem to be meant to be interpreted as the militant/nationalistic Safavid faith rather than the less organized Shiite sects before that. Atleast this seems to be the case with the in-game shiite religion as a religion of state. Also far too many provinces are listed as majority Shiite from the start in the game (but given how the vanilla mechanics work that might still be a good idea, we do want Persia to be Shiite, right?
).Imho shia/sunni state religion conversion shouldn't be allowed other than at the point of a sword. Most of the time people would just leave and join the Safavid armies, this was certainly the case with the shiites of asia minor (and this is why the Ottoman Empire initially had such a problem with the Safavids in Persia, a conflict which would continue to grow even after the Safavids lost their image of religious extremism).