The Khilafat Movement

The Khilafat Movement (1919–1923) was a political campaign by Indian Muslims to pressure the British government to preserve the Ottoman Caliphate (Khilafat) after the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I. Muslims feared the British and Allied powers would abolish the Khilafat and dismember Ottoman Turkey.

Key facts:

• Duration: 1919 to 1923.
• Leadership: The movement was led by Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, along with his brother and other Muslim leaders. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar also published newspapers — besides his newspaper 'Hamdard', his second famous newspaper was 'Camrade' (Comrade).
• Before the movement formally started, a body called 'Majlis Khuddam-e-Kaabah' was organised, dedicated to the protection of the holy places, and it helped set the stage for the wider Khilafat agitation.
• World War I started in 1914 and World War II started in 1939 — these dates are often confused with Khilafat-era dates in exam questions, so it helps to keep the World War timeline separate from the Khilafat timeline.
• A pact called the 'Lausanne Pact' was signed between Mustafa Kamal Pasha (Ataturk) and the Allied forces, formally settling Turkey's postwar borders and status.
• Mustafa Kamal Pasha (Ataturk), the military and political leader who founded modern secular Turkey, announced the end of the Khilafat (Caliphate) in Turkey.
• The actual abolition of the Khilafat of Turkey and the Ottoman Empire occurred in 1924, when Mustafa Kamal Ataturk formally abolished the Caliphate — this ended the very cause the Khilafat Movement had fought for, effectively bringing the movement to a close.

Other newspapers of the era:

• Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, a famous writer, poet, translator and journalist, published the newspaper 'Zamindar'.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad published the newspaper 'Al-Hilal'.

Why it matters: LAT tests the start year (1919), the leader (Muhammad Ali Jauhar), the end of Khilafat in Turkey (1924, by Ataturk), and correctly matching each leader to his newspaper.