How Far Did The Muslim League Become A Political Force, 1920-30? Flashcards
Khilafat Movement: (4)
- Muslim Indians long regarded the Sultan of Turkey as their Caliph
- Turkey’s decision to fight alongside Germany, challenged Muslim loyalties
- The 1919 peace settlement greatly reduced the size of Turkey
- Forces within Turkey removed the Sultan from power
What occurred during the Khilafat movement?
Islamic symbols to unite the diverse Muslim communities
Khilafat Movement effect:
- Repudiated British rule in India
- Legitimised Muslim participation in any nationalistic movement
Who endorsed the Khilafat movement?
Gandhi - thus bringing the weight of Hindu opinion behind what was solely a Muslim movement
How did Gandhi benefit from supporting the Khilafat movement?
- Muslim leaders joined Gandhi in mobilising the masses for the 1920 and 1921 civil disobedience campaigns
- Gandhi gained the support of a large number of Muslim spiritual and political leaders
How did Jinnah feel about Gandhis support for the Khilafat Movement?
- Opportunistic
- Caused a schism amongst Muslims, threatening existing structures
Collapse of the Khilafat movement:
- Turkey rejected the caliphate and became a secular state
- The religious aspects of the movement alienated western-orientated politicians like Jinnah (who resigned form Congress)
- Many Muslims became uncomfortable with Gandhis leadership
To what percentage did the Muslim delegates in Congress drop to?
1921 - 10.9%
1923 - 3.6%
What did the Tanzeem and the Tabligh movements do? (3)
- Aimed to strengthen the Muslim communities
- The conversion of Muslims to Hinduism would stop
- Every town was to have a gathering (Anjuman) to ensure more vigorous preaching, better religious education and the constructions of mosques
What was the purpose of the Tabligh and Tanzeem movements?
- Islam would be rejuvenated as they felt they were being constraint by Hindu communities
How did the Tanzeem and Tabligh movements affect relationship with Hindus? (3)
- Growing anti-Hindu sentiment
- Muslims blamed poor Hindus for their poor economic conditions
- Had martial overtones emphasising seperateness
What was the main reason for separateness?
Hindus and Muslims clearly represented two very different religious communities
How was this concept of separateness exacerbated?
The British policy of strict neutrality towards the religions encouraged all religions to believe that they could act as they wanted with no regard to the sensibilities of other groups
How was the impact of the strict neutrality exacerbated?
By the use of ‘divide and rule’ tactics by the Raj, which helped to foster political hostility between Hindus and Muslims
Praying methods creating seperateness:
Hindus - used gongs, bells and cymbals to create loud music when they were worshipping
Muslims - Preferred to pray in silence
Violence and verbal abuse broke out
Festivals creating separateness:
- At the Muslim festival of Bakr’Id, cows were ritually slaughtered
- Hindu festival of Holiday was noisome and troublesome to Muslims, lasting over two days
Organisations creating separateness:
- Arya Samj criticised Islam
- Tabligh and Tanzeem criticised Hinduism
- Hindu group Mahasabha
Arya Samj actions: (4)
- Sought converts to hinduism
- Cow Protection Society brought open conflict to butchers and tradesmen
- Attempted to have Hindi replace Urdu as the language of administration
- Major donors to the organisation came from the Hindu merchant and money-lending class on whom lower class Muslims depended for their economic security
Mahasabha actions:
- Prepared to use force against people they thought were diluting the purity of Hindu faith
The Raj as emphasising seperateness:
- Through the proposals the Raj put forward, such as the Montagu Declaration and Government of India Act, there was a common thread of protecting the rights of minorities by making provision for seperate electorates and so the concept of seperateness was enshrined politically
What did Jinnah suggest at the Muslim League’s 1927 meeting in Delhi? (3)
- Persuaded members to make a bold offer to Congress in hope of bringing them together
- Declared its end for supporting separate electorates for 1/3 of seats in the Central Legislative Assembly
- Separation of Sind from Bombay to create one Muslim-dominated province
How did Congress react to Jinnah’s offer?
Rejected it
What did Jinnah propose in 1929
Jinnah’s 14 Points
What did the 14 points entail?
Demands for continuation of seprate electorates and reservation of seats for Muslims in government services and self governing bodies.
How did Congress react to the 14 points?
Rejected it
How did Jinnah react to Congress’ rejections?
He left for England to be a barrister
Jinnah’s beliefs and aims:
- Disapproved mixing religion and politics
- Not an orthodox Muslim - wore European clothes and drank alcohol
