After the end of the Mughal Empire,…
1919 CE
After the end of the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman caliph had become the symbol of Islamic authority and unity to Indian Sunni Muslims.
Because the Ottoman empire had sided with the Central Powers in the Great War, the British have done their best to neutralize the Muslim feelings by promising to respect the status of the Khalifa.
The Allies' post-war peace settlement with Turkey provides an additional stimulus to the grievances of the Muslims, who fear that one goal of the Allies is to end the caliphate of the Ottoman sultan.
A pan-Islamic movement, known as the Khilafat Movement, spreads in India.
It is a mass repudiation of Muslim loyalty to British rule and thus legitimates Muslim participation in the Indian nationalist movement.
The top Muslim leaders -- Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Maulana Mohammad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Hasrat Mohani, and Obaidullah Sindhi -- decide not to cooperate with the government until the terms of the treaty are revised.
The leaders of the Khilafat Movement use Islamic symbols to unite the diverse but assertive Muslim community on an all-India basis and bargain with both Congress leaders and the British for recognition of minority rights and political concessions.
Jinnah, who continues his membership in the Indian National Congress until 1919, is described by a leading Congress spokesperson as the “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity” during this dual membership period.
Constitutional reforms are embodied in the Government of India Act of 1919 -- also known as the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (Edwin Samuel Montagu is Britain's secretary of state for India; the Marquess of Chelmsford is viceroy).
These reforms represent the maximum concessions the British are prepared to make at this time.
The franchise is extended, and increased authority is given to central and provincial legislative councils, but the viceroy remains responsible only to London.
The changes at the provincial level are significant, as the provincial legislative councils contain a considerable majority of elected members.
In a system called “dyarchy”, the nation-building departments of government -- agriculture, education, public works, and so on -- are placed under ministers who are individually responsible to the legislature.
The departments that make up the “steel frame” of British rule -- finance, revenue, and home affairs -- are retained by executive councilors who are often, but not always, British and who were responsible to the governor.
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