Khilafat Movement

The Khilafat movement, also known as the

Indian Muslim movement (1919–24), was
a pan-Islamist political protest campaign
launched by Muslims of British India led by
Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali
Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan,[1][2] and Abul
Kalam Azad[3] to restore the caliph of the
Ottoman Caliphate, who was considered
the leader of Sunni Muslims, as an
effective political authority. It was a
protest against the sanctions placed on
the caliph and the Ottoman Empire after
the First World War by the Treaty of
Sèvres.[4][5]

The movement collapsed by late 1922

when Turkey gained a more favourable
diplomatic position and moved towards
secularism. By 1924 Turkey simply
abolished the role of caliph.[6]

Background
Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842–
1918) launched his pan-Islamist program
in a bid to protect the Ottoman Empire
from Western attack and dismemberment,
and to crush the democratic opposition at
home. He sent an emissary, Jamaluddin
Afghani, to India in the late 19th century.[7]
The cause of the Ottoman monarch
evoked religious passion and sympathy
amongst Indian Muslims. Being a 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 caliphate.
Muslim religious leader Maulana Mehmud
Hasan attempted to organize a national
war of independence against the British
with support from the Ottoman Empire.

Abdul Hamid II was forced to restore the

constitutional monarchy marking the start
of the Second Constitutional Era by the
Young Turk Revolution. He was succeeded
by his brother Mehmed V (1844–1918) but
following the revolution, the real power in
the Ottoman Empire lay with the
nationalists. The movement was a topic in
Conference of London (February 1920);
however, nationalist Arabs saw it as threat
of continuation of Islamic dominance of
Arab lands.[8]

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
European 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
Turkish national movement. During the
Turkish War of Independence (1919–
1923), the Turkish revolutionaries, led by
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, abolished the
Treaty of Sèvres with the Treaty of
Lausanne (1923). Pursuant to Atatürk's
Reforms, the Republic of Turkey abolished
the position of caliphate in 1924 and
transferred its powers within Turkey to the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Khilafat Movement 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 Muhammad 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 some of the Muslims of
India, the prospect of being conscripted by
the British to fight against fellow Muslims
in Turkey was anathema.[9] To its founders
and followers, the Khilafat was not a
religious movement but rather a show of
solidarity with their fellow Muslims in
Turkey.[10]

Mohammad Ali and his brother Maulana

Shaukat Ali joined with other Muslim
leaders such as Pir Ghulam Mujaddid
Sarhandi 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
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.[11]
The Khilafat Committee in Bengal included
Mohmmad Akram Khan, Manruzzaman
Islamabadi, Mujibur Rahman Khan and
Chittaranjan Das.[12]

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. Some
also engaged in a protest emigration from
North-West Frontier Province to
Afghanistan under Amanullah Khan.[13]
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.[14]

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.
Massive protests, strikes and acts of civil
disobedience spread across India. Hindus
and Muslims collectively offered
resistance, which was initially peaceful.
Gandhi, the Ali brothers and others were
imprisoned by the British. 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.).

Collapse
Although holding talks with the British and
continuing their activities, the Khilafat
movement weakened as Muslims were
divided between working for the Congress,
the Khilafat cause and the Muslim
League.[15]

The final blow came with the victory of

Mustafa Kemal Pasha's forces, who
overthrew the Ottoman rule to establish a
progressive, secular republic in
independent Turkey. He abolished the role
of caliph and sought no help from
Indians.[16]

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 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.[17] People from villages such as
Aujla Khurd were the main contributors to
the cause.

Legacy
The Khilafat movement evokes
controversy and strong opinions. By
critics, it is regarded as one of the political
agitation based on a pan-Islamist,
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.[18]

See also
Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan
Moplah Riots
Pakistan Movement
Progressive Writers' Movement
Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam
Maulana Shaukat Ali
Nehru Report
 Chauri Chaura incident
All-India Muslim League

References
1. Hussain, Intezaar. Ajmal e Azam.
2. Andrews, C.F. Hakim Ajmal Khan.
3. Khilafat movement | Indian Muslim
movement | Britannica.com
4. http://www.goyalbrothers.com
Archived March 29, 2018, at the
Wayback Machine
5. http://www.nationalgeographic.com
 . Gail Minault, The Khilafat Movement:
Religious Symbolism and Political
Mobilization in India (1982).
7. Ahmed, Sufia. "Khilafat Movement" .
Banglapedia. Bangladesh Asiatic
Society. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
. Sankar Ghose (1991). Mahatma
Gandhi . Allied Publishers. pp. 124–
26.
 9. 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
10. A. C. Niemeijer (1972). The Khilafat
movement in India, 1919-1924 .
Nijhoff. p. 84 .
11. Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement,
p. 92
12. Razzaq, Rana. "Khan, Mohammad
Akram" . Banglapedia. Bangladesh
Asiatic Society. Retrieved 16 July
2016.
13. Clements, Frank; Adamec, Ludwig W.
(2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: A
Historical Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO.
ISBN 978-1-85109-402-8.
14. Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement,
p. 69
15. Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement,
p. 184
1 . Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement,
p. 205
17. Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival, Norton,
(2006), p. 106
1 . Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement
pp 208-12

Further reading
Rehmat Farrukhabadi (2005).
Muhammad Ali Jauhar and the Mutiny
Trial (‫ﻣﻘﺪﻣﮧ ﺑﻐﺎوت‬
ِ ‫ور‬۱ ‫ )ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻋﻠﯽ ﺟﻮﮨﺮ‬in
Urdu . Oxford University Press.
Minault, Gail (1982). The Khilafat
Movement: Religious Symbolism and
 Political Mobilization in India . Columbia
University Press. p. 69 .
Qureshi, M. Naeem (1999). Pan-Islam in
British Indian politics: a study of the
Khilafat Movement, 1918-1924 . BRILL.
Gandhi, Khilafat & The National
Movement by N.S. Rajan, Publisher
:Sahitya Sindhu Prakashan

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