History Notes

Khilafat Movement
Q1. Why was the Khilafat Movement founded? (7) Ans. With the Turkish Empire being defeated at the end of World War I, Muslims all over the world were concerned with how Turkey would be treated. The main reason for this concern was that Turkey was the home of Khilafat. The Khalifa had a great symbolic value for Muslims. After the war the British decided to punish Turkey. Hence, they decided to abolish the system of Caliphate. The Muslims of India were shocked at this decision. They, in protest, immediately started the Khilafat Movement for the protection of the system of Caliphate and prevent the Caliph from being disposed off. The Khilafat movement also aimed to protect Muslims holy cities like Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem from being overruled by the European Nations as these cities had a great significance for the Muslims. The movement was also to protect Turkish boundaries as the Largest Muslims Empire and prevent it from being broken down into a nation by the European Nations. Q2. Why did Non-Muslims support the Khilafat Movement? (4) Ans. Although the Hindus were not at all concerned with the fate of the Khalifa, they too extended their support for the Khilafat Movement. Hindu leaders like M.K Gandhi openly declared their support. The main reason for this was that the Congress wanted to use Muslims agitation as an excuse to attain self-rule. They wanted to show that Hindu-Muslims Unity was beneficial and threatening for the British. Moreover, the Congress wanted to pressurize the British to make further concessions. Q3. What was the non-cooperation movement? (4) Ans. The Non-cooperation movement was a protest movement led by M.K Gandhi, a Hindu Leader. In it, British goods were boycotted, schools and colleges were emptied, lawyers refused to appear in British courts and there were disturbance in army units. Q4. Why was the Hijrat Movement? (4) Ans. In 1920, Abul Kalam Azad and Maulana Abdul Bari gave a call to Indian Muslims to leave the British Raj as the land was now not safe for living and asked them migrate to Afghanistan. This migration of about 20000 Muslims to Afghanistan is known as the Hijrat Movement. Though this migration was poorly planned, it demonstrated the depth of feeling amongst Muslims and showed that they were willing to leave their homes and possessions to escape British Rule. Q5. Why did the Hijrat Movement fail? (4)

Ans. The Hijrat Movement to Afghanistan failed. This was because when the Muslims reached Afghanistan, the Afghan government did not allow the Muslims to enter as they could not accommodate such a huge number of people. People were forced to return. Secondly, the journey to Afghanistan was very long and difficult. Thirdly, many Muslim leaders were against this decision and instead wanted Muslims to stay and fight for their cause. Q6. Why did the Khilafat Movement fail? (7) Ans. The Khilafat Movement failed to achieve its goals. One of the main reasons for the failure of the Khilafat Movement was that the main leader of the Khilafat Movement, Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar was arrested and imprisoned. The Hijrah Movement also failed. The Emigrants found themselves in a crisis when they returned back. They became busier in settling themselves than on paying attention to the Movement. Secondly, the Chauri Chaura incident, in which a lot of policemen were burnt to death, frightened Gandhi who immediately called off the Non-cooperation Campaign. This really annoyed the Muslims as it took off the pressure from the British. Thirdly, the Turks themselves abolished the caliphate as they too wanted Turkey to be a nation instead of an empire. Kamal Attaturk took control of Turkey and abolished the system of Caliphate. Hence there was no point in continuing a movement which had been destroyed the Turks themselves but it was still a devastating blow for millions of Muslims. Q7. How did the Khilafat Movement affect the politics of India? (7) Ans. Although the Khilafat Movement failed, it had a long lasting effect on the Muslims, Hindus, and British and on the politics of India. Firstly, the Muslims realized that they could now no longer rely on the British and Hindus for the protection of their rights. They also learned how to organize themselves politically in order to move the community for a cause. Secondly, with the end of the Khilafat Movement, the Hindus-Muslims Unity, that had been previously established in the Lucknow Pact and had played a great role in the Khilafat Movement, also came to an end. The Hindus were blamed for the failure of the Movement as M.K Gandhi called off the Swaraj Movement. The Hindus realized that they could now attain self-rule without the support of the Muslims. Thirdly, the British also gained some lessons. They learn that the Muslims as a community and their demands could never be ignored, as it had been done earlier when their sentiments about reversal of Bengal Partition and Language issue were ignored. Otherwise, the Muslims will agitate and protest against them.