Khilafat Movement: The Rise of Muslim Nationalism in India (1919-1924)
Khilafat Movement: The Rise of Muslim Nationalism in India (1919-1924)
Khilafat Movement: The Rise of Muslim Nationalism in India (1919-1924)
The Movement
The Khilafat Movement 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 First World War. The aims of this movement were:
To keep the institution of Khilafat intact and Khalifah to carry out the business of
government as usual
Restoration of Turkey’s grace as it possessed before and during World War – I, and
no change to occur in the boundaries of Turkey.
The sanctity ( )دقتسof Makkah and Madina should be maintained and non-Muslim
forces should not be allowed to enter in these two sacred cities.
Khilafat conferences
First Khilafat Conference: November 1919 in Delhi
Second Khilafat Conference: December 1919, Amritsar.
Third Khilafat Conference: February 1920, Bombay
Activities of Movement
Delegations were sent to Britain and other European countries to convey the feelings of
the Muslims to the governments.
Doctors, nurses and medicines were dispatched to Turkey for the treatment of wounded
Turkish soldiers.
The Khilafat meetings in Malabar incited communal feelings among the Moplahs and it became
a movement directed against the British as well as the Hindu landlords of Malabar. There was
large-scale violence that saw systematic persecution of Hindus and British officials. Many homes
and temples were destroyed. From August 1921 till about the end of the year, the rebels had
under their control large parts of Malabar. By the end of the year, the rebellion was crushed by
the British who had raised a special battalion, the Malabar Special Force for the riot. In
November 1921, 67 Moplah prisoners were killed when they were being transported in a closed
freight wagon. They died of suffocation. This event is called the Wagon Tragedy.
The Chauri Chaura incident took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur
district of Uttar Pradesh. A large group of protesters participating in the non-cooperation
movement were fired upon by the police. In retaliation the demonstrators attacked and set fire to
a police station, killing all of its occupants. The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22
policemen. Mahatma Gandhi, who was strictly against violence, halted the non-cooperation
movement on the national level on 12 February 1922, as a direct result of this incident. In spite
of Gandhi's decision, 19 arrested demonstrators were sentenced to death and 14 to imprisonment
for life by the British colonial authorities.
Quotations:
The British government treated the Indian Khilafat delegation of 1920, headed by Muhammad
˓Ali, as quixotic pan-Islamists, and did not change its policy toward Turkey. The delegation
insisted the Britain not to punish Turkey but the Prime Minister Lloyd George said:
This was in violation of the earlier pledge of the British Prime Minister Lloyd George
who had declared:
Jinnah learnt a lot from the Khilafat movement. It disillusioned him with the Congress and the
British rulers and strengthened his faith to work for the interests of the Muslims. He worked hard
to bring the Muslims out of their demoralized state of mind and reorganize them under the
banner of the Muslim League.