HIST 4339

Pan-Islam

The Caliphate

• British fear of Muslim uprising after 1857

• Indian Muslim pride in strength of Ottoman sultan

• (Sunni) view of sultan as caliph, leader of umma (global Islamic community)

• 1876: Viceroy Lytton on danger of Indian Muslim loyalty to caliph:

            “If three Turks were to land at Bombay, with a message from the Sultan            commanding the faithful in India to proclaim a jehad against the British       Government, our whole Muhammedan population would, (however reluctantly)             obey the mandate.”

The Khilafat Movement

• World War I defeat of Ottoman empire raised Indian Muslim anxiety about caliphate

• Khilafat movement to protect caliphate

• Means of uniting diverse Indian Muslim community

• Caliphate as multi-layered symbol (see Gail Minault, The Khilafat Movement)

            ◦ for religious leaders: continued supremacy of Islamic law worldwide

            ◦ for moderates: religious freedom and self-determination

            ◦ for radicals: futility of accommodation with Western political institutions

            ◦ for Muslim laborers: Islam in danger, eternal salvation

            ◦ for everyone: call to rally against the government

• 1920: All-Indian Khilafat Conference established

            ◦ key leaders: brothers Mohamed Ali and Shaukat Ali

            ◦ “futile to expect peace in India” if government did not protect caliphate

• Appeal to Gandhi to lead khilafat movement

• Alliance allowed both sides to claim broad support across Hindu-Muslim divide

• Rise of violence: Mappila rebellion, Chauri Chaura

• Gandhi’s call to end campaign

• 1924: Turkish abolition of caliphate

• Movement’s lasting symbolic importance, despite failure

The Pan-Islamic Congresses

• 1926 Cairo Congress: few Indian Muslims

• 1926 Mecca Congress: continuing controversy over Indian Muslim role

• Conflicting British viewpoints: pan-Islam “uniting” or “hopelessly disunited?”

Conclusions

• Important divisions among British officials and among Muslim leaders

• Muslim recognition of British fear of international Muslim protest