Strategic Analysis of Khilafat Movement

By:
Muhammad Ahsan Qureshi
Bachelor of Science In Computer Sciences
1st -Semester
Department of Engineering & IT

National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad

Strategic Analysis Of Khilafat Movement By: M.Ahsan Qureshi

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Contents
1.
2.
3.

Introduction
Background
Historical Perspective
a.
b.
c.
d.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Ottoman Caliphate
Khilafat In South Asia
Collapse
Legacy

Demands Of The Khilafat Committee

Aims And Objectives Of Khilafat Movement
Establishment of all India Khilafat movement
Congress support to Khilafat movement
Non-cooperation movement
Hijrat movement
End of Khilafat movement
Chaura Churi Incident
End of caliphate.
Causes Of The Failure Of Khilafat Movement
Effects Of Khilafat Movement
a.
b.
c.
d.

15.
16.
17.

03
03
03

05
06
06
06
07
07
07
08
08
08
09

Economic, social and political effects on muslims

Political training of muslims
Credit Side Of Khilafat Movement
Adverse Side Of The Khilafat Movement

Strategic Analysis
Conclusion
Bibliographic Search

Strategic Analysis Of Khilafat Movement By: M.Ahsan Qureshi

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Khilafat Movement
1. Introduction:
The Khilafat movement was started by Maulana Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, both brothers,
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Hasrat Mohani and Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari. It was started in
1919 to support the Ottoman Caliphate and was short lived, ending in 1924 by the overthrow of
the Caliph by Kemal Ataturk in Turkey. It was briefly supported by Gandhi as an alliance of sorts
was formed to gain Indian independence which was then Part of the British Raj. Khilafat
movement was launched by Muslims of South Asia to force British government to protect the
Ottoman Empire after World War 1.

2. Background:
After the First World War in 1918, British and its allied powers decided to divide Turkey among
themselves. Turkey supported Germany in the First World War. Germany lost the war and Turkey
had to face the music. British and its allies also resolved to dissolve the designation of Khilafat.
The designation of Khilafat always remained holy and sacred in the Muslim history. Khalifa is
considered the vicegerent of Allah on the Earth. Therefore, the Muslims became infuriated on this
unholy act of the British government. Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar and Maulana Shaukat Ali
Johar along with other Muslim leaders started a movement called the Khilafat movement.

3. Historical Perspective:
a). Ottoman Caliphate
The Khilafat movement (19191924) was a pan-Islamic, political protest campaign launched by
Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman
Empire during the aftermath of World War I. The position of Caliph after the Armistice of
Mudros of October 1918 with the military occupation of Istanbul and Treaty of Versailles (1919)
fell
into
a
disambiguation
along
with
the Ottoman
Empire's
existence.
In India, although mainly a Muslim religious movement, the movement became a part of the
wider Indian independence movement. The movement was a topic in February 1920 Conference
of London.
The movement gained force after the Treaty of Sevres (August 1920) which imposed
the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and gave Greece a powerful position in Anatolia, to the
distress of the Turks. They called for help and the movement was the result. The movement
collapsed by late 1922 when Turkey gained a more favorable diplomatic position; by 1924 it
simply
abolished
the
roles
of
sultan
and
Calif.
The cause of the Ottoman monarch evoked religious passion and sympathy amongst Indian
Muslims. Being a Caliph, the Ottoman emperor was nominally the supreme religious and political
leader of all Muslims across the world.

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b) Khilafat in South Asia

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, Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar had spent four years in prison for advocating
resistance to the British and support for the caliphate. At the onset of the Turkish war of
independence, Muslim religious leaders feared for the caliphate, which the European powers
were reluctant to protect. To the Muslims of India, the prospect of being conscripted by the British
to fight against fellow Muslims in Turkey was anathema. To its founders and followers, the
Khilafat was not a religious movement but rather a show of solidarity with their fellow Muslims in
Turkey.
Mohammad Ali and his brother Maulana Shaukat Ali joined with other Muslim
leaders such as Sheikh Shaukat Ali Siddiqui, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Raees-Ul-Muhajireen
Barrister Jan Muhammad Junejo, Hasrat Mohani, Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari, Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad and Dr. Hakim Ajmal Khan to form the All India Khilafat Committee. The organization
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.
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. Congress
leader Mohandas Gandhi and the Khilafat leaders promised to work and fight together for the
causes of Khilafat and Swaraj. Seeking to increase pressure on the British, the Khilafatists
became a major part of the Non-cooperation movement, a nationwide campaign of mass,
peaceful civil disobedience. The support of the Khilafatists helped Gandhi and the Congress
ensure Hindu-Muslim unity during the struggle. Gandhi described his feelings towards
Mohammad Ali as "love at first sight" to underscore his feelings of solidarity. Khilafat leaders such
as Dr. Ansari, Maulana Azad and Hakim Ajmal Khan also grew personally close to Gandhi.
These leaders founded the Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920 to promote independent
education and social rejuvenation for Muslims. The non-cooperation campaign was at first
successful. Massive protests, strikes and acts of civil disobedience spread across India. Hindus
and Muslims collectively offered resistance, which was largely peaceful. Gandhi, the Ali brothers
and others were imprisoned by the British.
However, the Congress-Khilafat alliance began withering soon. The Khilafat campaign
had been opposed by other political parties such as the Muslim League and the Hindu
Mahasabha.
Many Hindu religious and political leaders identified the Khilafat cause as Islamic
fundamentalism based on a pan-Islamic agenda. And many Muslim leaders viewed the Indian
National Congress as becoming increasingly dominated by Hindu fundamentalists.

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c) Collapse
In wake of these disturbances, the Ali brothers began distancing themselves from Gandhi and the
Congress. The Ali brothers criticised Gandhi's extreme commitment to non-violence and severed
their ties with them after he suspended all non-cooperation movement after the killing of 23
policemen at Chaura Churi in 1922. Although holding talks with the British and continuing their
activities, the Khilafat struggle weakened as Muslims were divided between working for the
Congress, the Khilafat cause and the Muslim League.
The final blow came with the victory of Mustafa Kemal's forces, who overthrew the
Ottoman rule to establish a pro-Western, secular republic in independent Turkey. He abolished
the Calif role and sought no help from Indians.
The Khilafat leadership fragmented on different political lines. Syed Ata Ullah Shah
Bukhari created 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 the Muslim League.
They would play a major role in the growth of the League's popular appeal and the
subsequent Pakistan movement. There was, however, a Caliphate Conference in Jerusalem in
1931 following Turkey's abolition of the Khilafat, to determine what should be done about the
caliphate. People from villages such as Aujla Khurdwere the main contributors to the cause.
d) Legacy
The Khilafat struggle evokes controversy and strong opinions. By critics, it is regarded as a
political agitation based on a pan-Islamic, fundamentalist platform and being largely indifferent to
the cause of Indian independence. Critics of the Khilafat see its alliance with the Congress as a
marriage of convenience.
Proponents of the Khilafat see it as the spark that led to the non-cooperation
movement in India and a major milestone in improving Hindu-Muslim relations, while advocates
of Pakistan and Muslim separatism see it as a major step towards establishing the separate
Muslim state. The Ali brothers are regarded as founding-fathers of Pakistan, while Azad, Dr.
Ansari and Hakim Ajmal Khan are widely celebrated as national heroes in India. Jats were the
only group who were with the Ali brothers the whole time. Other tribes such
as Rajputs surrendered. Main tribes of Jats included Metlas and Aujla.

4.

Demands of The Khilafat Movement:

The demands of the Khilafat committee were as under:
i) The Turkish Empire should not be dismembered.
ii) The Holy place should remain in the custody of Turkish Government.
iii) The institution of Caliphate must be retained.

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5.

Aims And Objectives Of Khilafat Movement:

The Muslims demanded that:Jazirat-ul-Arab including Mesopotamia, Arabia, Syria and Palestine with the Holy places
situated therein must always remain under the direct suzerainty of the Khilafat.

The Khilafat Movement aimed at presenting the Ottoman Empire and the continuity of the
temporal power of Khalifa to protect Muslim lands without any mandate. Mohammad Ali put
forward the demands of the Khilafat Movement in a speech delivered at Paris on March 21, 1920
by declaring:
The Khilafat shall not be dismembered but that the Khalifa
shall have sufficient temporal power for the defence of the
Faith, that in the Island of Arabia there shall be exclusive,
Muslim control without mandate or protection and that the
Khalifa shall remain as heretofore the warden of the
Holy places.

6. Establishment of All-India Khilafat movement (on march 20, 1919):

All India Khilafat Committee was formed at Bombay in July 1919. The first Khilafat Conference
at Delhi in November 1919 was arranged in which the Congress leaders like Gandhi and Nehru
participated. In this way, the major political parties joined hands to assault the injustice with the
Muslim community. These steps were announced:

No participation in victory celebrations.

Boycott of British goods
Non Cooperation with the Government

The second Khilafat Conference (Amritsar) was held in Dec. 1919. Maulana Muhammad Ali and
Shaukat Ali joined the session after being released from prison. In Jan. 1920, M. A. Ansari led a
delegation to Viceroy while Maulana M. A. Johar to Europe. The Khilafat Committee decided to
start non-cooperation in collaboration with the Congress in May 1920.

7. Congress support to Khilafat movement:

Leaders of many struggling countries in Asia, locked in the battle for freedom, were conscious of
the fact that their struggle was a part of the general struggle in all colonial countries. They
extended support to each other. Sun Yat Sen once offered to make over the funds he had
collected for revolutionary struggle in China to the Philippine revolutionaries and was willing to
postpone the uprisings he had planned in China so that the cause of independence of the
Philippines could be furthered.
Perhaps more than any other country, the Indian National Congress leadership was clear from a
very early stage in demonstrating solidarity with the other struggling, colonial peoples.
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This feeling of oneness and of a common struggle was instinctively felt by Dadabhai Naoroji,
Bannerjee, Gokhale, Tilak, Lajpat Rai and other leaders of the time. Under the leadership of
Gandhiji and Jawaharlal Nehru, this became a matter of faith as well as of policy.

8. Non-cooperation movement:
The Nagpur Session of the Congress (Dec. 1920) approved non cooperation with Government
but Jinnah opposed and left the Congress on 13th April 1923, because he was against the use of
extra-constitutional means of protests.
The country was passing through a critical period and both the Congress and the Muslim League
fully felt the necessity of mutual co-operation to the Khilafat Movement. The leaders of the two
movements met at Amritsar and resolved to launch a country-wide agitation under the leadership
of Mr. Gandhi. So the two movements, one led by Maulana Muhammad Ali and the other by Mr.
Gandhi merged into one and it was directed against the British Government.
The policy of progressive, non-violent, non-cooperation was to be given effect to in the following
manner:

Renunciation of all Government titles.

Boycott of courts and educational institutions.
Resign from jobs
Later resign from police and military jobs.
Refusal to pay taxes.
Boycott of foreign goods.

9. Hijrat movement (1920-21)

The Indian ulama (religious leaders) declared India Darul Harab. Darul Harab means the place
(country) where Muslims are not allowed to perform their religious practices. In the said situation,
the Muslims should migrate to the nearest safe place. The ulama issued verdicts to go to Darul
Islam, Afghanistan. There was an impression that King of Afghanistan would welcome them. So
the migration took place at large scale. Initially Afghans welcomed them. Later, they closed the
border and pushed the migrants back to the Indian territories. It resulted in loss of lives and
money. Many died during this mission. Some went to Soviet Union from Afghanistan because
they had nothing in India now.

10.

End of Khilafat movement:

a) Moplah Revolt
Moplahs were the descendents of the Arab Muslims settled in the Sub Continent even before
the arrival of Muhammad Bin Qasim. In August 1921, they revolted against Hindu landlords
whose treatment was very brutal with them. Later this clash changed as Moplahs versus the
Police and Hindu. This embittered the Hindu-Muslim relations.
There was an increase in violence day by day and the Chorachori Incident (UP) in
February 1922 worsened the situation. The Congress volunteers set a police station on fire and
21 policemen were killed. Gandhi suddenly called off the movement without consulting other
leaders.

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b) Developments in Turkey
In 1922 Attaturk emerged as a national leader and restricted powers of Sultan. Next he was
appointed Chief of the state by Grand National Assembly. In March 1924, Khilafat was
abolished. This caused a widespread resentment among the Indian Muslims. They sent
delegations to Turkey but failed to achieve their objectives.

11.

Chaura Churi incident :

Chaura Churi is a small village in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh. On February 5, 1922,
the police stationed there fired at a group of demonstrators. The demonstrators retaliated by
burning down the police station, which caused the death of twenty-two policemen.
Gandhiji had all through the movement emphasized on peace and non-violence.
This incident deeply hurt him and he called off the movement. On March 10, 1922, he was
arrested and sentenced to six years imprisonment.
The national movement during the years AD 1905-1922 turned into a popular
movement largely due to the efforts of Gandhiji. In the following years, he was the person who
symbolized the attempts of the Indians to secure freedom from British rule.

12.

End of caliphate:
After Hijrat Movement, the Muslims had to come back to the Sub-continent but now they had
lost their hearth and home. They had to face the severe circumstances in the Khilafat
movement. In 1924, Mustafa Kamal Ata Turk assumed power in Turkey and abolished the
institution of Khilafat himself lf. This act of him really disappointed Muslims. Thus the Khilafat
Movement came to an end without achieving its goals.

13.

Causes Of The Failure Of Khilafat Movement:

Gandhi also joined Muslims in their Khilafat Movement. In fact, he wants to protect the British
government and needed autonomy of India through this movement. Therefore, he joined the
Khilafat Movement for achieving his coveted plan. Apparently, he was showing that he was
sincere to the Muslim cause.
Quaid-e-Azam admonished the Muslims that this movement should not be started but
Muslims were not listening to him. Non-cooperation movement, Hijrat movement, Moplah revolt
and the Chaura Churi tragedy did a great loss to Muslim properties, wealth and lives. After the
tragedy of Chaura Churi, Gandhi left the Khilafat movement saying that he did not like violence.
After Hijrat Movement, the Muslims had to come back to the Sub-continent but now they had
lost their hearth and home. They had to face the severe circumstances in the Khilafat
movement.
In 1924, Mustafa Kamal Ata Turk assumed power in Turkey and abolished the institution
of Khilafat himself lf. This act of him really disappointed Muslims. Thus the Khilafat Movement
came to an end without achieving its goals.

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14.

Effects Of Khilafat Movement:

a) Economic, social and political effects on muslims
The Khilafat Movement Islamised the politics for the Indian Muslims. Instead of creating political
understanding and analysing political issue purely on political grounds, they supported or
rejected all these issues on the basis of religion. Once religion became supreme authority to
understand and act politically, the ulama gained ground and assumed leadership.
b) Political training of muslims
This is evident during the Khilafat movement when attempts were made to establish separate
shriat court and collect zakat. As a result of the movement religious and non- political
consciousness was created among the Muslims. While on the other hand, the Congress
followed the political agenda that promoted the political awakening among its followers (majority
of them were the Hindus)
c) Credit Side Of Khilafat Movement
It trained Muslims for political action and agitation.

It trained Muslims for political action and agitation.

It united the extremists and modernists on one platform.
They learned that Hindus can never be friends of Muslims. Their differences
are too deep-rooted to
The Muslims got acquainted of their political power.
It made Muslims politically conscious.
It destroyed the myth of Muslims loyalty to the British.
d) Adverse Side Of Khilafat Movement:

Muslims became more interested in national affairs than international one.

Hijrat movement cost millions of rupees and millions of families.
Muslim emotionalism gave nothing to them. Khilafat was abolished not by
British but by Turks themselves.
Religious leaders for the time being vanished from political arena.

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15.

Strategic Analysis:

The Khilafat Movement failed to achieve its objectives of restoration of caliphate. Muslims of India
were very discouraged and disappointed on its failure. Yet the Khilafat Movement had some
favorable effects on Muslims of India in the long run.

16.

The movement gave a general awareness and created self-confidence among the Muslims.
It awakened their sense of political understanding.
They started taking parts in nation politics and also learnt methods of protesting, arranging
and holding mass meetings and fighting for their rights.
Educated Muslims, students and Ulemas started taking interest in politics.
This movement created a number of political workers who later started taking interest in
politics and played an important and active role in the Pakistan Movement.
These workers had direct contact with the masses. Now they were able to boldly present
their demands to the British Government.
The Khilafat Movement gave a boost to Muslim journalism and many important Urdu
magazines and newspapers came out voicing the demands of Muslims.
The magazines and newspapers contributed a great deal towards political awakening and
advocating their demands of Pakistan Movement later on.
The members of the Khilafat Movement were more concerned with the
fate of the Khalifa than the western powers and people of Turkey.
The Hindus and the Muslims had different aims. The Hindus wanted independence from
the British while the Muslims had the aim of gaining power back to the caliph.
The movement also created a strong anti-british feeling. This made Ghandi call of the
campaign before Kemal Ataturk abolished the movement.
The outcomes of Khilafat Movement were huge. It left both good and bad effects.
It results in protest and rallies on street of subcontinent.
There was an increase in violence day by day. It results in collapse of Hindu Muslims
Alliance.
A huge number of people were involved in this movement, ma b this was also a reason of
civil disobedience.
Because of some violent incidence in the country which resulted in the deaths of many
Hindus, Muslims and British people, Mahatama Gandhi G called off his Non-Cooperation
Movement. This was a major jolt to the Khilafat Movement

Conclusion:
Every movement against the British rule left its good as well as bad effects on the people.
After Khilafat Movement Muslims of the Sub-continent become united, strong and
conscious about their separate identity which led them towards final destination. This was
the real credit which Muslims derived from Khilafat Movement.

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17.

Bibliographic Search:
Web Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khilafat_Movement
http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/pakistan-affairs/51264-mynotes-plz-check-2.html
http://storyofpakistan.com/khilafat-movement/
http://notesonpakistan.blogspot.com/2009/05/khilafat-movement.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/316624/Khilafat-movement
http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct86/5.htm

Books Reference

Pakistan Studies, Dr.Abdul Qadeer khan

History of Pakistan studies
Pakistan Studies Lecture Notes

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