Khilafat Movement in India
The Khilafat movement, also known as the Caliphate movement, or the Indian Muslim movement was a Pan-Islamic force in India that occurred in 1919 to rescue the Ottoman Caliph as a symbol of unity among the Indian Muslim community during the British rule. In other words, its purpose was to influence the British Government to safeguard the authority of the Ottoman Sultan as a Caliph of Islam following the separation of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. The Khilafat movement was initially strengthened by Gandhi's Non-Cooperation movement but disintegrated after the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924. Read the article below to know what is Khilafat Movement is.
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What was the Khalifat Issue?
The Khilafat issue facilitated the reinforcement of the emergence of a radical nationalist tendency among the younger generation of Muslims and the part of traditional Muslim scholars who were becoming increasingly critical of British rule.
During this time, they were annoyed by the treatment given to Turkey by the British after the First World War. The Muslims in India, as the Muslims all over the world, observed the sultan of Turkey as their spiritual leader. During the War, Turkey had united with Germany and Austria against the British.
When the war ended, the British took an unfriendly attitude towards Turkey. Turkey has pulled apart and the Khalifa was removed from power. This provoked Muslims all over the world. The Muslims in India demanded the following from the British.
Khalifa’s power over Muslim sacred places should be preserved.
The Khalifa should be left with adequate territories after territorial arrangements.
A Khilafat Committee in early 1919 was formed under the leadership of the Ali brothers (Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali), Maulana Azad, Ajmal Khan, and Hasrat Mohani, to force the British Government to change its attitude towards Turkey.
What is Khilafat Movement?
Turkey had lined up itself in the First World War with Germany that was defeated by Great Britain. The political awareness of the Muslims was disapproving of the British and their allies' treatment of the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire that had split up and properly removed Thrace from Turkey. The Muslims observed the Sultan of Turkey as the Caliph or the religious head of the Muslims and they strongly felt that his position over the Muslim religious places should not be threatened.
A Khilafat Committee was formed Under the leadership of the Ali Brothers (Maulana Mohammed Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali), Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Hasrat Mohani, The All- India Khilafat Conference held in November 1919 in Delhi decided to remove all the government cooperation if the government did not meet its demands.
Mahatma Gandhi saw the Khilafat distress as an opportunity not to unite Hindus and Muslims in hundred years. Also, the full support to the National Congress and its political agitation were given by the Muslim leaders.
Mahatma Gandhi in early 1920 declared that the Khilafat question darkened the constitutional reforms and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and announced that he would lead a non - cooperation movement if the terms of peace with Turkey did not satisfy the Indian Muslims.
Who Started Khilafat Movement?
The Khilafat Movement in defense of the Caliph of Turkey was launched by the Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Abul Kalam Azad, and Hakim Ajmal Khan.
Why was the Khilafat Movement Started?
The Khilafat Movement, which continued till 1924, was a conflict initiated by Indian Muslims in 1919, intending to hold out the steps adopted by the British government to eliminate the Ottoman Caliphate after the Turkish Empire was dissolved in the consequence of World War I.
The Ottoman Sultan was identified as the Caliph, or leader, of Islam.
Later, the Muslim leaders followed Gandhi, who initiated the movement to bring Hindus and Muslims together for the freedom struggle. The movement was started to fight against the measures adopted to abolish the Ottoman Empire because the community feared that they would lose access to Mecca and Madina. But at last, the Khilafat movement brought people from different communities together.
Also, it is believed that it was the mother of the social reformer Maulana Mohammed Ali Jauhar, after whom Mohammed Ali Road is named, and Shaukat Ali, who had asserted that the movement should continue as a fight for independence.
What was the Significance of Khilafat Movement?
The Khilafat Movement was regarded as one of the significant movements in an attempt to free India from British rule. The Khilafat Movement observed the joint efforts of the Hindus and the Muslims under the supervision of the Indian National Congress against the British Raj. The success of the movement was reinforced even more when Mahatma Gandhi brought forward his Non-Cooperation movement along with the Khilafat Movement for the joint efforts to articulate their collective bitterness against the colonizers. Mahatma Gandhi observed Khilafat Movement as a brilliant opportunity to unite both the Hindus and the Muslims and their respective causes against one common authority of exploitation and domination.
Mahatma Gandhi allied the suggestions of self-government better known as ‘Swaraj’ with the Khilafat concerns and demands and adopted the non-cooperation plan to accomplish the dual objectives. One of the most significant instances in India’s freedom struggle was issued by the Khilafat movement concerning the unity among the Hindus and the Muslims. This was mostly due to the interweaving of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and the Khilafat Movement themselves. The structure of the Hindu-Muslim consonance agreed with Mahatma Gandhi’s idea that freedom from British rule could only be attained if the Hindus and the Muslims both worked together and collectively fought for their freedom.
Why was the Khilafat Movement Collapsed?
A Khilafat Movement under the aegis of the caliphate was launched. Khilafat movement in India was launched by the Ali brothers Shaukat and Muḥammad Alī and by Abul Kalam Azad. The leaders followed the non-cooperation movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi for Indian freedom, promising civil disobedience in return for his support of the Khilafat movement. In 1920, the latter movement was ruined by the ḥijrat from India to Afghanistan of about 18,000 Muslim peasants, who felt that India was a defector land.
The movement was also stained by the Muslim Malabar rebellion in south India in 1921, the excesses of which deeply instigated Hindu India. Gandhi’s suspension of his movement and his arrest in March 1922 drained the Khilafat movement still further.
It was further ruined when the President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, overtook the Greeks from western Asia Minor (Indian Peninsula that constitutes the Asian portion of Turkey) in 1922 and overthrew the Turkish Sultan Mehmed VI in the same year. The Khilafat movement finally collapsed when Atatürk altogether abolished the caliphate in 1924.
FAQs on Khilafat Movement
1. What was the Khilafat Movement?
The Khilafat Movement (1919-1924) was a pan-Islamic, political protest campaign launched by Muslims in British India. Its primary goal was to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Sultan as the Caliph, or Khalifa, who was considered the spiritual leader of the worldwide Sunni Muslim community. The movement arose from fears that the Caliph's position would be undermined following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.
2. Who were the main leaders of the Khilafat Movement in India?
The Khilafat Movement was primarily led by the Ali brothers, Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ali Jauhar. Other prominent leaders who were instrumental in the movement included:
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Hasrat Mohani
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
Mahatma Gandhi also played a crucial role by supporting the movement and linking it to the larger struggle for Indian independence.
3. What was the primary objective of the Khilafat Movement?
The central objective was to pressure the British government to preserve the authority and territorial integrity of the Ottoman Caliphate. After World War I, the Allied powers, including Britain, proposed to dismember the Ottoman Empire and abolish the title of Caliph. Indian Muslims launched the movement to ensure the Khalifa retained control over Muslim holy sites and to prevent the imposition of a harsh treaty (like the Treaty of Sèvres) on Turkey.
4. How did Mahatma Gandhi connect the Khilafat issue with the Non-Cooperation Movement?
Mahatma Gandhi saw the Khilafat issue as a golden opportunity to unite Hindus and Muslims in a common struggle against British rule. By supporting the Khilafat cause, he gained the trust and backing of a large section of the Muslim population. He convinced the Indian National Congress to join forces with the Khilafat leaders, launching the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement in 1920. The strategy was to build a broad-based, unified mass movement to bring the British administration to a standstill and demand Swaraj (self-rule).
5. Why was the position of the Ottoman Caliph (Khalifa) so important to Indian Muslims?
For many Sunni Muslims in India and around the world, the Ottoman Sultan was not just a political ruler but also the Khalifa, the successor to Prophet Muhammad and the spiritual head of the global Muslim community (Ummah). His position was symbolic of Islamic authority and unity. The Caliph was seen as the custodian of the holy places of Islam, such as Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. The threat to his authority by the British and other European powers was perceived as an attack on Islam itself, creating deep religious and emotional resentment among Indian Muslims.
6. When and where was the All-India Khilafat Committee formed?
The All-India Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay (now Mumbai) in March 1919. This committee was established to organise a country-wide protest and to coordinate the efforts of Indian Muslims to defend the Caliphate.
7. What were the key events that led to the collapse of the Khilafat Movement?
The movement began to weaken and eventually collapsed due to several factors:
Suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement: Mahatma Gandhi called off the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 after the Chauri Chaura incident, which weakened the Khilafat Movement's momentum and mass support base.
Events in Turkey: The movement became redundant when the Turks themselves, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, rose in a nationalist revolution. They deposed the Ottoman Sultan in 1922 and officially abolished the Caliphate in 1924, turning Turkey into a secular republic.
8. What was the long-term impact of the Khilafat Movement on Hindu-Muslim relations in India?
The impact was complex and twofold. Initially, the movement created an unprecedented phase of Hindu-Muslim unity, with leaders from both communities sharing platforms and participating in joint protests against the British. However, the abrupt end of the movement and the collapse of its central cause led to disillusionment. The religious and pan-Islamic nature of the Khilafat cause was later seen by some as a factor that strengthened religious identities over a unified national identity, contributing to communal tensions in the subsequent years.
9. How is the Khilafat Movement different from the Non-Cooperation Movement?
Although they were merged for a period, their core objectives were different. The Khilafat Movement was fundamentally a pan-Islamic religious movement focused on a foreign issue: the protection of the Ottoman Caliph. In contrast, the Non-Cooperation Movement was a broader political struggle with the domestic goal of achieving Swaraj (self-rule) for India by boycotting British institutions and goods. The Khilafat cause provided the immediate trigger, while the demand for Swaraj was the ultimate nationalistic goal.
10. What role did the Treaty of Sèvres play in triggering the Khilafat Movement?
The Treaty of Sèvres (1920) was a peace treaty that the Allied powers intended to impose on the defeated Ottoman Empire. Its harsh terms proposed the complete dismemberment of the empire, stripping it of its non-Turkish territories and placing its finances and military under Allied control. This treaty confirmed the worst fears of Indian Muslims that the institution of the Caliphate would be destroyed. The widespread anger against these terms acted as a major catalyst, intensifying the protests and strengthening the resolve of the Khilafat Movement across India.
