Image: Gandhi and Khilafat-era leaders, historical archive.
The Khilafat movement emerged in India after the First World War around concerns about the future of the Ottoman Caliphate. Gandhi supported the movement and worked with Muslim leaders during the early 1920s.
Why Gandhi supported Khilafat
Gandhi saw cooperation with Khilafat leaders as an opportunity to build Hindu-Muslim political unity while also strengthening resistance to British rule.
The Ali brothers
Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali were among the prominent Khilafat leaders who worked with Gandhi during the Non-Cooperation period.
One combined movement
The Khilafat and Non-Cooperation campaigns overlapped in many parts of India. Joint meetings and boycotts brought different groups into the same political mobilisation.
Limits and later developments
The alliance did not last indefinitely. The Khilafat issue changed rapidly after the Turkish Republic abolished the Caliphate in 1924, while political disagreements in India also grew.
Historical significance
The episode is an important chapter in understanding both Gandhi’s strategy of Hindu-Muslim cooperation and the complex political environment of the early 1920s.
Read NewsNationOnline’s Non-Cooperation Movement feature and the Gandhi Heritage Portal.
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