Indian Muslims, Ottoman Empire and Caliphate during Colonial Period
Salih Pay
Abstract
Indian Muslim is a term applied for Muslims living in the Indian Subcontinent comprised of the modern day states
of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. India witnessed the first Muslim raids during the era of
the Rashidun, and permanent dominance of Islam began in the Umayyad period upon the conquest of Sindh.
Nevertheless, it was Turkish Muslim states, from Ghaznavids to Mughals, which ensured the spreading of Islam in
other regions. In the 15th century, the Portuguese were the first to arrive on Indian coasts, before they were
subject to raids by Western colonialist states such as Holland, England and France. By the middle of the 19th
century, India entirely fell under the British rule. In those days, under guidance of their scholars and leading
personalities, Indian Muslims looked for ways to get rid of the British rule. Besides, they provided both moral and
material support so that the Ottoman Empire, as the only independent state within Islamic world, and the
Caliphate [Khilafat] survive without surrendering to the British or other colonial dominance. The objective of
this study is to analyze how Muslims in the Indian Subcontinent who were totally deprived of independence as a
British colony, paid close attention to the Ottomans and the Caliphate.
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