The Khilafat Movement

Questions/Answers

Q. WHAT WAS THE KHILAFAT MOVEMENT?

Ans. It was started by Indian Muslims in 1919.It was started after the defeat of the Ottoman
Empire (Turkey)by the Allied forces. Indian Muslims demanded protection of boundaries of
Ottoman Empire and respect of Holy places located in it.it.Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire
should not be changed.
Q.WHAT WAS THE HIJRAT MOVEMENT?
Ans. The Hijrat Movement was a by-product of the Khilafat Movement. During the movement
Muslims religious leaders e.g maulana Abdul Kalam Academic declared india Dar ul Harbour and
persuaded Indian Muslims to migrate to Afghanistan. In August 1920, 18000 Muslims set of on
a Hijrat to Afghanistan but Afghan government did not allow the refugees to settle and forcibly
sent them back. Many of them found themselves homeless penniless.
Q. WHAT WERE THE REASONS FOR LAUNCHING THE KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
Ans. Khilafat Movement was founded due to many reasons. One of the reasons was the
protection of the institute of Caliph. The Turkish Ottoman Empire joined World War I on the
side of Germany and suffered defeat against the Britain and her allies. At the end of the war,
Greece, Britain and the US seemed keen to abolish the Caliphate. Protecting the Caliph was
very important for the Muslims because he was the symbolic religious and political leader of all
Muslims in the world.Muslims in India also held the caliphate of Turkey in high
regard.Therefore Muslims of the subcontinent didn’t want the institution of the caliphate was
to be demoralised.
Khilafat Movement was also founded to protect the Ottoman Empire, which was one largest
Muslim empire and had great history. The Ottoman Empire was the only Muslim power which
had maintained a semblance of authority. The Indian Muslims looked upon it as the bastion of
They felt that any diminution in its sovereignty or territory would mean a blow to the
independent existence of Islam as a world community. Therefore, the Muslims were not
prepared io see Turkey split up after the War.
Another reason was the protection of holy places in the middle East controlled by the Ottoman
Empire before the First World War- As the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the war, the
Muslims of India feared that collapse of the Caliphate could result in fall of the Holy places in
Makkah,Madinah, Jerusalem and other parts of Arabia under the control of non-Muslims.
 Muslims all over the world have strong religious attachment with these places and their
sanctity is of top most priority to them, Therefore, the movement was launched to defend
Turkey and the sacred places.

Further, intention of attaining self-rule for India was another reason of the Khilafat Movement.
The Hindus and the Muslim had been working together since Lucknow Pact 1916 for self-rule.
So, in 1919, when Muslims launched the Khilafat Movement in India, Gandhi had seen an
opportunity for self-rule by joining the Movement. So, Gandhi along with Hindus joined the
Movement, as they thought that it was a good opportunity to get self-rule.Thus, another aim of
the Khilafat Movement was to get maximum concessions, especially self-rule for lndia
Khilafat Movement was also founded because the Muslims felt betrayed which enraged them.
During the First World War, the British promised that caliph would be respected and no harm
would be done to the caliphate in order to get the Muslims to fight alongside the Allies during
the World War l .However this promise was not kept in the end. The British commitments with
Indian Muslims on the question of Turkey were broken with arrogant disregard for all norms of
morality for the sake of political gains.The British government went ahead with its designs to
dismember the Ottoman Empire,and entered into negotiations with other colonial powers to
divide the empire.As a result,the Muslims were enraged and founded the movement to
persuade the British to keep their promises about maintaining the Turkish empire.
The imprisonment of many Indians during the war also led the Indians to establish the Khilafat
Movement. However, during the war,majority of the Muslims supported to the British,but
there were few who hated the British policies against Turkey.They opposed the idea to fight
against their Muslim brothers(Turkish)in the Middle East.
Q. WHAT WERE THE REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF KHILAFAT MOVEMENT?
Ans. The Khilafat Movement failed largely because its members were more concerned with the
fate of the Khalifa than were the Western powers and the people of Turkey. In the end the new
government of Kemal Attaturk simply abolished the Khilafat, regardless of what anyone outside
Turkey thought. This is why one historian has described the Khilafat as a wrong ideology,
romantic and out of touch with actualities. Nowhere is this seen better than in the Hijrat to
Afghanistan where the Muslims were shocked by the lack of support from the Afghan
government.
Although the Khilafat Movement was the first movement in which Hindus and Muslims worked
together, their unity was probably always doomed to failure.The Hindu aim of self-rule was
not really an objective of the Muslims (Jinnah (RA) spoke out against such a policy) and the
Hindus were prepared to support the Muslims in protecting their religious rights only as long
as it helped move India towards self-rule.
The movement also failed because of the strength of anti-British feeling that it created.
Although the movement was based on saving the Khilafat, some supporters seized on Gandhi's
policy of non-cooperation to demonstrate their opposition to British rule in general. The
ensuing violence frightened Gandhi who called off his campaign even before Kemal Attaturk
abolished the Khilafat.