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Submitted by:

Ahsan Mumtaz 1219-MA-PS-2019

Arsalan Abbas 1239-MA-PS-2019
Muhammad Mukhtar 1283-MA-PS-2019
Pakistan Movement

Submitted to:
Mr. Asjad Ghani
Department of Political Science
Government College University, Lahore.
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KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Relationship between Caliphate and India ................................................................................................... 3
The End of War ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Reaction of Muslims of India ........................................................................................................................ 4
Hindu-Muslim Unity ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Non-Cooperation Movement ....................................................................................................................... 6
Hijrat Movement........................................................................................................................................... 6
End of Khilafat Movement ............................................................................................................................ 7
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
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Introduction
After Turkey lost in World War I against the allies, the Allies (Britain, France,
Russia, Italy and USA) were inclined towards dismembering it and dividing the
broken pieces among themselves. These intentions of the Allies put the Muslim
population of the entire world into confusion and dismay. Turkey was the seat of
Ottoman Empire which was the last existing token of Muslim glory and valor as it
was the only surviving Muslim empire. It was the only kingdom that seemed
capable of resisting Europe. It commanded utmost reverence in the hearts of
Muslims of the entire world. Turkey was to Muslims, “The last hope of Islam”.
Consequently, the threat of Turkey’s destruction combined with other factors
moved the Indian Muslims to make efforts in order to save Turkey from being
spoiled. The giant movement that Muslims conducted in response to the threat of
Turkey’s dismemberment is known as Khilafat Movement which started in 1919
and ended in 1924. The movement was later joined by Hindus but they also had
their own political goals. They aimed at using the entire movement as means of
putting pressure on the government. The movement took an Anti-British Character
as they were being blamed for both Turkey and India’s fate.

Relationship between Caliphate and India

It was during the reign of Hazrat Usman-i-Ghani that a formal relationship
established between Caliphate and India. When the Umayyads came to power, the
Muslims of Sindh also accepted the sovereignty of Caliphate. Hazrat Umar Bin
Abdul Aziz, after becoming Caliph wrote several letters to the notables of Sindh.
During Umayyad and Abbasid rules, emissaries were sent to India which were
called Naib-e-Khilafat. When Mahmood Ghaznavi was ruling central asia, he
considered it an obligation to inform the Caliphate about every new achievement.
He also sought a formal permission from the Caliphate before launching every
Indian venture. Caliph rewarded him the title of Yameen-ud-Doula which he
considered a great honor bestowed upon him. Delhi Sultanate also had close
allegiance and reverence for the Caliphate. The coins from Delhi carried the name
of the Caliph along with the names of the Indian rulers. The rulers considered
themselves to be the vicegerents of the caliphate. Even the smaller independent
states considered themselves to be subservient to the Caliph. After the fall of
Mughal Dynasty, Sultan Tipu tried to oust British from the sub-continent. A letter
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was sent by Sultan Saleem III through their ambassador in Constantinople

addressed to Sultan Tipu. In this letter, the Caliph of Islam advised Tipu not to
have any truck with the French, who were the enemies of Islam and the Muslims.
This clearly reflects the importance of Khilafat for Muslims.

The End of War

World War II resulted in the defeat of Germany and her allies, Turkey being one of
them. With Turkey’s total defeat in 1918, things took a horrible turn. Allies
seemed to be bent upon dismembering her to the extent of extinction. The British
Prime Minister, Mr. Lloyd George, had, in a speech on 15 January 1918, outlined
the Allies’war aims and denied that they had any ambition for territorial expansion.
He declared that they were not fighting to deprive Turkey of her capital or the
renowned and fertile lands of Asia Minor or Thrace but he also stated that
Armenia, Iraq, Arabia, Syria, Palestine deserved separate terms of settlement.
However, the treaty of Serves which Turkey was made to sign under duress went
even beyond the declaration of British Prime Minister, for its provisions amounted
to completed disintegration of Turkey, its reduction to the position of a vassal state
and the passing of other Muslim lands, including even Holy Places, under
European control.

The Caliph became a puppet in Allied Hands. Thrace was given to Greece, Iraq,
Syria and Palestine, was taken over by Britain and France as Mandatories, the
Ottoman capital, Constantinople, was placed under a High Commission, and the
Greek forces were instigated to occupy Smyrna.

Reaction of Muslims of India

The Muslims of India were greatly perturbed regarding the fate of Caliphate.
Slaves of the British themselves were determined to do all they could for the
preservation of Turkish Sovereignty which meant saving the symbol of Khilafat-i-
Islam. Although Khilafat had lost its effect as a political force yet it served as a
spiritual rallying point for the Ummah, at least for the majority of the Sunnis. The
Muslim leaders of the sub-continent almost all of them belonged to the Muslim
League, brought about an organization in 1919, for the protection of Ottoman
Caliphate which later on came to be known as the “Khilafat Committee”. The main
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purpose of this organization was to launch a forceful mass movement to pressurize

the British rulers so as to soften their attitude in respect of their dealings with the
Caliph. Thus Maulana Muhammad Ali accompanied by his brother Maulana
Shaukat Ali, Hakeem Ajmal Khan, Dr. Ansari, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad and others began to deliver speeches in favour of the Turkish
Sultan. There were fiery speeches and they stimulated the soul of Muslims in all
parts of the country. The above mentioned Muslim Leaders openly supported the
Turkish stance when the Sultan threw in his lot with the Germans. Maulana
Muhammad Ali’s article, “The choice of Turks” tremendously moved the
Muslims. This obviously could not be tolerated by the British Rulers who were
fighting against the Turks. A number of Muslim leaders were jailed and were
released only when the War ended. A simultaneous session of Congress and the
Khilafat Committee reached a decision that a delegation from India should
immediately proceed to England and other European countries to present the
demands. Initially a delegation comprising Moulana Muhammad Ali, Syed
Hussain and Sayyid Suleman Nadvi was elected which was later on expanded to
include Shaikh Musheer Husain Kidwai and Moulvi Abul Qasim. The delegation
held a meeting with the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, which proved futile
as he was not moved by the arguments of the delegation. He went on to rejecting
their perspective and remarked that Turkey would not be allowed to keep non-
Turkish areas in her possession. The delegation still did not give up and decided to
present the case before general public and used all its resources to illuminate the
people of Europe in general and those of London, Paris and Italy in particular on
the Muslim point of view about Khilafat. However, the delegeation met with little
success and returned to India in October, 1920 without any significant
achievement. The failure of Delegation led to the formation of new strategies in
order to persuade the British. These strategies included Non-Cooperative
movement. The Hindus also joined Muslims in Khilafat movement and this was a
time when the short lived Hindu Muslim Unity was at its peak. However, the
muslims went to the point of flattery in order to prove their loyalty with Hindus.

Hindu-Muslim Unity
Though very short, it was the first and the last time when the Hindu-Muslim unity
was at its peak. The Muslims did everything they could in order to achieve the
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confidence of Hindus. The Muslims went to the point of accepting the Vedas as the
revealed book, praying in Hindu temples, participating in the Ramayana Pooja and
painting their foreheads with tilaks. The Khilafat leaders, especially the Ali
Brothers, sought Mr. Gandhi’s help to strengthen the Khilafat Movement and add
to the pressure upon the British Government. Subhash Chandra Bose states that an
alliance was struck between Gandhi and Ali Brothers on the basis of two issues,
viz the Punjab atrocities and the Khilafat grievances. Ali Brothers knew that with
the support of Indian National Congress they could serve better the cause of
Khilafat. The Muslims frequently announced that Gandhi deserved to be a prophet.
Cow-slaughter was also abandoned and a fatwa was given out against the
slaughtering of Cow. To top it all, Muslims allowed a fanatic and bigoted Hindu
Shardhanand to deliver a speech from Prophet’s pulpit in the Jamia Masjid. It was
the Shardhanand who stated the Shuddhi movement.

Non-Cooperation Movement
With the objective of establishing a new strategy to move British rulers, it was
decided to launch a movement of Non-cooperation. An extraordinary meeting of
Jamiat-ul-Ulama-i-Hind was convened on September 6, 1920, at the end of which
the fatwa of Tark-Mawalaat was issued. The movement included boycott of courts,
boycott of schools and colleges that received grants from government,
disassociation from all executive and legislative councils, renunciation of
governmental titles and resignation from government jobs. As a result of this
proclamation, hundreds of thousands people returned the titles and stopped sending
their children to government schools and colleges. Educated youth resigned from
their government jobs. Thousands of students abandoned their studies to join
national movement. For the Hindus, it was a dream come true as a vaccum was
created in the government offices which was later filled by Hindus themselves. The
Muslims thus strayed farther apart from their rulers and the gap increased.

Hijrat Movement
During this period, Abul Kalam Azad and Moulana Abdul Bari issued a fatwa
which declared India as Darl-al-Harb and advised Muslims of India to migrate.
Consequently, thousands of Muslims sold their properties and fled to Kabul where
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they were not accepted. Hindus were the beneficiaries of this movement as well as
they bought land from Muslims in far less prices. In some areas, a piece of land
worth ten thousand was bought for a paltry amount of one hundred and a land
which was valued at Rupees two hundred was purchased for only Rupees forty.
Hindu Muslim Unity was however still working well when a mutinous situation
arose in Malabar District in Madras which was later come to be known as Mophlah
Uprising. Mophlas were ethnically Arabs who were forced to live a life of slavery
under Hindu feudal lords. In June 1920, Khilafat committee was set up in Malabar
and in September 1920, this area was visited by Mohammad Ali and Gandhi.
Government panicked upon this and arrested a leader of Madras, Moulvi Yaqub
Hassan. This infuriated mophlas and a number of riots broke out. The government
has to impose martial law in order to keep its writ strong. The administration put
down the revolt ruthlessly that led to heavy loss of life and property.

End of Khilafat Movement

The end of Khilafat Movement took place when Gandhi announced to discontinue
the Non-Cooperation movement after the grave incident of Chaura Chauri where
riots broke out and twenty one policemen were burnt alive after a mob set a police
station on fire. This adversely affected the Khilafat Movement. In 1924, Kamal
Ataturk announced the establishment of a democratic government in Turkey after
abolishing the institution of Khilafat. Thus, people became indifferent and lose the
interest that was left.

Conclusion
Khilafat movement bore a number of positive and negative consequences on the
social, economic and political life of the Muslims of the sub-continent. The way
muslims revered before Hindus and took up their culture and traditions in order to
express their loyalty was not advisable at all as the objective was to save the
institution of Khilafat. After the end of Khilafat Movement, muslims were left
extremely disappointed. Muslims had supplied the funds for the movement and this
left the economic conditions of the muslims very poor. The education of the
muslims also suffered a huge setback. However the movement had some sort of
positive impact as it inculcated in muslims a new sense of political consciousness.
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It left them with a broader outlook and brought them in contact with other muslim
countries. The muslims also realized the cunning intentions of the Hindus aimed at
bringing the muslims down and thus muslims developed a feeling of distrust
towards them. A tribute is due to the Ali Brothers and other Muslim leaders for the
great role that they played during the entire movement. The movement also worked
against British imperialism.