Khilafat Movement

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The Khilafat movement (1919–22) was a political campaign launched by Indian Muslims in British India over British policy against Turkey and the planned dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by Allied forces.[1][2][3]

Leaders participating in the movement included

Abul Kalam Azad[7] who organised the movement to redress the grievances of Turkey.[8]

Mahatma Gandhi had supported the movement as part of his opposition to the British Empire, and he also advocated for a wider non-cooperation movement at the same time.[9] Vallabhbhai Patel, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and other Hindu and Congress figures also supported the movement.[10][11]

Generally described as a protest against the sanctions placed on the

First World War by the Treaty of Sèvres, the movement is also noted for promoting Hindu-Muslim unity.[12] It ended in 1922 after the end of the non-cooperation movement.[13][14][15][16][17]

Background

Ottoman sultan

Jamaluddin Afghani, to India in the late 19th century.[18]
The cause of the Ottoman monarch evoked religious passion and sympathy amongst Indian Muslims. Being the caliph, the Ottoman sultan was nominally the supreme religious and political leader of all Sunni Muslims across the world. However, this authority was never actually used.

A large number of Muslim religious leaders began working to spread awareness and develop Muslim participation on behalf of the

war of independence
with support from the Ottoman Empire.

Conference of London (February 1920); however, nationalist Arabs saw it as threat of continuation of Turkish dominance of Arab lands.[19]

Partitioning

The Ottoman Empire, having sided with the Central Powers during World War I, suffered a major military defeat. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) reduced its territorial extent and diminished its political influence but the victorious Europe powers promised to protect the Ottoman sultan's status as the caliph. However, under the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), territories such as Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq were severed from the empire.

Within Turkey, a progressive, secular nationalist movement arose, known as the

Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and Hejaz, leader of the Arab Revolt, but his kingdom was defeated and annexed by Ibn Saud
in 1925.

Khilafat Movement in Indian Subcontinent

Khilafat activists leading a procession

Although political activities and popular outcry on behalf of the caliphate emerged across the Muslim world, the most prominent activities took place in India. A prominent Oxford educated Muslim journalist,

conscripted to fight against fellow Muslims in Turkey was anathema.[21] To its founders and followers, the Khilafat was not a religious movement but rather a show of solidarity with their fellow Muslims in Turkey.[22]

Mohammad Ali and his brother

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Dr. Hakim Ajmal Khan to form the All India Khilafat Committee. The organisation was based in Lucknow, India at Hathe Shaukat Ali, the compound of Landlord Shaukat Ali Siddiqui. They aimed to build political unity amongst Muslims and use their influence to protect the caliphate. In 1920, they published the Khilafat Manifesto, which called upon the British to protect the caliphate and for Indian Muslims to unite and hold the British accountable for this purpose.[23] The Khilafat Committee in Bengal included Mohmmad Akram Khan, Manruzzaman Islamabadi, Mujibur Rahman Khan and Chittaranjan Das.[24]

In 1920 an alliance was made between Khilafat leaders and the Indian National Congress, the largest political party in India and of the nationalist movement.[25] Congress leader Mahatma Gandhi and the Khilafat leaders promised to work and fight together for the causes of Khilafat and Swaraj. Seeking to increase pressure on the colonial government, the Khilafatists became a major part of the non-cooperation movement — a nationwide campaign of mass, peaceful civil disobedience. Some also engaged in a protest emigration from North-West Frontier Province to Afghanistan under Amanullah Khan.[26]

The movement also saw donations by Indians to help in this movement.[27][28] A committee was also started for sending funds to help Ankara government of Mustafa Kemal.[29]

The non-cooperation campaign was at first successful. The programme started with boycott of legislative councils, government schools, colleges and foreign goods. Government functions and surrender of titles and distinctions.[citation needed] Massive protests, strikes and acts of civil disobedience spread across India. Hindus and Muslims joined forces in the campaign, which was initially peaceful. Gandhi, the Ali brothers and others were swiftly arrested by the colonial government. Under the flag of Tehrik-e-Khilafat, a Punjab Khilafat deputation comprising Moulana Manzoor Ahmed and Moulana Lutfullah Khan Dankauri took a leading role throughout India, with a particular concentration in the Punjab (Sirsa, Lahore, Haryana etc.). People from villages such as Aujla Khurd were the main contributors to the cause.[citation needed]

Although holding talks with the colonial government and continuing their activities, the Khilafat movement weakened as Muslims were divided between working for the Congress, the Khilafat cause and the Muslim League.[30]

The Khilafat leadership fragmented on different political lines.

Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam with the support of Chaudhry Afzal Haq. Leaders such as Dr. Ansari, Maulana Azad and Hakim Ajmal Khan remained strong supporters of Gandhi and the Congress. The Ali brothers joined Muslim League.[31]

Challenges to British colonization

Up to the turn of the 20th century, the British system of political control was effective in Sindh. During the Khilafat movement, however, the British dealt with another major challenge to their rule.[32]

The Khilafat movement represented the first occasion on which a major number of Sindhi pirs came together on a common platform to oppose British policy, and their involvement showed the way in which they were being gradually involved in the issues of the broader Indian Muslim community. Similar to their co-religionists elsewhere, many of these pirs were affected due to the rise in pan-Islamic sentiment and also by the changing awareness of the position of Muslims in South Asia. Their participation in the agitation severely threatened to undermine the position of the British colonial rule in Sindh. Yet, regardless of the significant influence of the pirs and the considerable support which they attracted for the Khilafat cause, the system of control proved its credibility by reducing the threat posed to British rule to one of manageable proportions.[32]

The British system of control was seriously threatened by the involvement of Sindhi pirs in the Khilafat movement. The concerns of the movement appealed strongly to a major section of the province's religious leadership as a result of the rise in interest in pan-Islamic issues during the years leading up to 1919. Support for broader Islamic concerns during this period was directly associated with the gradual erosion of the barriers which had isolated the Sindh region from developments taking place.[32]

Legacy

The movement is noted to have played a role in boosting unity among Hindus and Muslims. The Congress supported the movement in response to the divide and rule strategy by the British.[33] The period of 1919-1922 is widely seen as the heyday of Hindu-Muslim unity.[12] Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had thanked the Congress for its sympathy, and hoped that that it would soon gain Swaraj.[34]

The movement is described as a milestone in the growth of the Muslim nationalism and the history of civil disobedience in India. Critics, however, argue that the movement was not nationalist or anti-imperialist but its religious rhetoric concealed a weak and uncertain religious agenda.[35]

Omair Anas, writing for the Turkish outlet Daily Sabah, noted that "It is impossible to recall Turkey's anti-colonial struggle without mentioning Gandhi's support for the unity and integrity of the then-crumbling Ottoman Empire."[36]

See also

References

  1. . Retrieved 9 February 2023. Khilafat movement which was primarily designed to prevent the allied dismemberment of Turkey after World War One.
  2. .
  3. .
  4. ^ "Muhammad Ali Jauhar and the Mutiny Trial". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  5. ^ Hussain, Intezaar. Ajmal e Azam.
  6. ^ Andrews, C.F. Hakim Ajmal Khan.
  7. ^ "Khilafat movement | Indian Muslim movement | Britannica.com". Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  8. ^ The Cambridge History of India, Volume 6. S. Chand Group. p. 800. The main object of the Khilafat movement was to redress the grievances of Turkey and get for her justice.
  9. ^ Carl Olson (2007). The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction. Rutgers University Press. p. 29.
  10. ^ Inamdar, N.R. (1983). Political Thought and Leadership of Lokmanya Tilak. Concept. p. 259. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  11. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (7 December 2013). "Sardar and the Swayamsevaks". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  12. ^ .
  13. .
  14. ^ Ahmad Hasan Dani (1979). World Scholars on Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Volume 1. Quaid-i-Azam University. p. 85. the Khilafat agitation ended in 1922
  15. ^ Gail Minault, The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India (1982).
  16. ^ Burton Stein (2010). A History of India. John Wiley & Sons. p. 300.
  17. .
  18. ^ Ahmed, Sufia. "Khilafat Movement". Banglapedia. Bangladesh Asiatic Society. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  19. from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  20. ^ Özoğlu 2011, p. 5; Özoğlu quotes 867.00/1801: Mark Lambert Bristol on 19 August 1924.
  21. ^ However, at the same time, note must also be made that in the North Punjab and part of the NWFP, a huge number of Muslims did actively volunteer to serve in the British Indian Army in World War I
  22. .
  23. ^ Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement, p. 92
  24. ^ Razzaq, Rana. "Khan, Mohammad Akram". Banglapedia. Bangladesh Asiatic Society. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  25. .
  26. .
  27. ^ Bharti Thakur (2006). Women in Gandhi's Mass Movements. Deep and Deep Publications. p. 61.
  28. ^ Selected Subaltern Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 338.
  29. . Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  30. ^ Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement, p. 184
  31. ^ Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival, Norton, (2006), p. 106
  32. ^ .
  33. .
  34. ^ Bryant, J.F. (1924). Gandhi & the Indianisation of the Empire. J. Hall & Son. p. 204.
  35. .
  36. ^ Anas, Omair (4 October 2021). "Turkey in Gandhi's anti-colonial struggle". Daily Sabah.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links