Nor was it merely a commercial- religious rivalry; real warfare was involved.

An entrenched ethnic and religious rivalry along a disputed border could provide the initial spark.

It was also a time of growing religious, imperial and economic rivalries that led to a competition for the establishment of colonies.

Moreover, rivalries among the country's 250 ethnic groups often overlap religious rivalries.

Historians have debated the implications of the religious rivalries for the American Revolution.

This is a prescription for unending embroilment in Afghanistan's historic tribal, religious and political rivalries.

There is also the subject, of urgent contemporary relevance, of religious rivalry.

"We see the religious rivalry playing itself out," said an administration official.

The country remained in a state of turmoil, with simmering ethnic, religious and personal rivalries threatening to erupt into a fresh war.

The disintegration of central power also lead to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry.