Impact of Khilafat Movement on the politics of British India (1920-1940): a descriptive and exploratory analysis

Abstract

Khilafat Movement was started in British India immediately after the end of the First World War (1914-18). Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Shaukat Ali, the graduates of Sir Syed Muslim Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College, were its founding leaders. It got mass recognition when the Indian National Congress, under the leadership of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, joined the Movement. It also provided a solid platform for propagating his famous political philosophy of non-violence. Unfortunately, when the Movement was at its peak, Gandhi separated himself from it based on his non-violence approach. This study is focused on the impacts of the Khilafat Movement on Indian politics during the period 1920-40. The descriptive and exploratory method was adopted to analyze the results of the Movement. Religious movements like Shuddhi, Sanghatan and Tablighi Movement, and the religious political party, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, were founded during and after the Movement. The Jamia Millia Islamia was founded against the Muslim University Ali Garh. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), initially a Hindu reformist movement, which later became a violent extremist group, was founded in 1925. Hindu-Muslim riots started after this Movement at regular intervals, which never ended till the partition of India in 1947.