Topic: Khilafat movement

May/June 2010

(b) Why was the Khilafat Movement founded? [7]

Muslims held the Caliphate of Turkey in high regard and were not prepared to see Turkey
split up after the War and thus the Caliph abolished. They expressed their views to the
British government during the War who promised that no harm would be done to the
Caliphate. After the War ended reports from Europe suggested that the British and French
wanted to punish the Turks for their support of the Germans. As a result the Khalifat
Movement was founded.

May/June 2012

(c) ‘The Khilafat Movement failed by 1924 because Gandhi withdrew his support.’ Do you
agree? Give reasons for your answer.
Gandhi had seen an opportunity for self-rule by joining the Movement and the involvement of the Hindus
was welcomed by many Muslims. However, by joining with the Hindus the objectives of the Movement
were made less clear since the Hindus and Ghandi especially, were using it for their own ends and didn’t
have the interests of the Muslims at heart. Chauri Chaura was a village in the United Province where
trouble started between the police and a mob. Gandhi decided that the Swaraj Movement was becoming
too violent following the
Chauri Chaura incident and so called off his support.
However, there were other reasons for its failure.

Some of the leaders including Maulana Muhammad Ali were imprisoned in 1921 which made the
organisation less effective.
Thousands of Muslims migrated to Afghanistan in a religious protest against the British
government.

The Afghan government was hostile to the migrants and refused to allow all the refugees to settle. Many
of those who returned to India died on the journey back or found themselves homeless and jobs occupied
which dispirited the Muslims. Thus Muslim support for the Khilafat Movement fell away.

Its failure was also brought about by the decision of the Muslim Mustafa Kamal Ataturk to form a
nationalist government in Turkey but the end had been seen in the refusal of Lloyd George to accept the
demands of the Movement.

Oct/Nov 2013

(b) Why did the Khilafat Movement fail by 1924? [7]

Gandhi decided that the Swaraj Movement was becoming too violent following the Chauri
Chaura incident and so called off his support. In 1920 the Muslim migration (hijrat) to
Afghanistan took place. The Muslim League opposed this as they wanted them to stay and
fight for their cause. The migration was a failure. The Afghan government was hostile to the
migrants who on their return found their homes and jobs occupied which dispirited the
Muslims. Finally the new Turkish government under Kemal Ataturk abolished the institution
of the Caliph in 1924 so ending the Movement.

May/June 2014
(c) Was the migration to Afghanistan (Hijrat) the most important reason why the Khilafat
Movement failed? Explain your answer. [14]
LEVEL 1:Simplistic statement [1–2]
It led to the failure of the Movement
LEVEL 2: Description of / identifies reasons for failure
The hijrat failed as they were turned away. Gandhi thought that events were getting too
violent. [3–6]
LEVEL 3: Explains the Hijrat or other reasons [7–10]
LEVEL 4: Explains the Hijrat and other reasons [9–13]
Thousands of Muslims migrated to Afghanistan in a religious protest against the British
government. The Afghan government was hostile to the migrants and refused to allow all the
refugees to settle. Many of those who returned to India died on the journey back or found
themselves homeless and jobs occupied, which dispirited the Muslims. As a result Muslim
support for the Khilafat Movement fell away. However there were other reasons for its failure.
Gandhi had seen an opportunity for self-rule by joining the Movement and the involvement of
the Hindus was welcomed by many Muslims. However by joining with the Hindus the
objectives of the Movement were made less clear since the Hindus and Ghandi especially,
were using it for their own ends and didn’t have the interests of the Muslims at heart. Chauri
Chaura was a village in the United Province where trouble started between the police and a
mob. Gandhi decided that the Swaraj Movement was becoming too violent following the
Chauri Chaura incident and so called off his support. This was a massive blow to the chance
of success for the Movement as a large proportion of the support for the cause fell quickly
away.
Some of the leaders including Maulana Muhammad Ali were imprisoned in 1921which made
the organisation less effective since the Movement’s leadership was missing at a crucial
time. The Movement’s ultimate failure was brought about by the decision of the Muslim
Mustafa Kamal Ataturk to form a nationalist government in Turkey but the end had been
seen in the refusal of Lloyd George to accept the demands of the Movement. Muslims now
had to cause to support and support quickly vanished.
LEVEL 5: As Level 4: also produces a judgement or evaluation. [14]

Oct/Nov 2022

4(b) Explain why people joined the Khilafat Movement.

people wanted to protect the Caliphate/Ottoman Empire/holy places

• it provided a vehicle for different groups of people to protest against the
British
• the Muslim community resented fighting fellow Muslims in the First
World War
• Gandhi saw it as an opportunity to unite Muslim and Hindu communities
against the British
• to protest against the policy of British repression in 1921