Aid of the Indian Muslims to the Ottoman Empire and Turkey (1911-1923)

The dose relations of Turks and Indian Muslims have a very old historical background that goes back to the ancient Turkish states. However, after India became under British colonial rule in the 19th century, the loyalty of Indian Muslims to the Ottoman Empire, which held the caliphate, gained a new meaning. Especially the bridge of friendship established during the reign of Abdulhamit II led to the Indian Muslims' material and moral aids to the Turks since the end of the 19th century in almost all of the wars during the Ottoman Empire's disintegration process, each of which ended with the loss of land. The aid of Indian Muslims became systematic in the wars of the Ottoman Empire in the first quarter of the 20th century, especially during the Tripoli War (1911-1912) and the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). However, during the World War I (1914-1918), the aids of Indian Muslims, who had to succumb to the British war policy during the war, was prevented by Britain due to their war with the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, Britain used Indian Muslim soldiers along with the Indians in the fronts it opened against the Ottoman Empire. Britain made use of India in terms of logistics during the war, and also took some of the Ottoman soldiers as captive and sent them to various regions of India. At the end of the World War I, Indian Muslims obtained a promise from the British for the protection of caliphate and Turkey's territorial integrity. Indian Muslims provided significant financial support to "The Turkish War of Independence" (1919-1922), especially in the process after the inauguration of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. After the triumph in the War of Independence, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and Commander-in-Chief, thanked, on behalf of the Turkish nation, the Indian Muslims through the Indian Committee of the Caliphate for the aids sent, and he also asked for the continuation of these aids in order to contribute to the reestablishment of Turkey, which was devastated then due to the lasting wars. in this study, the aids and supports of the Indian Muslims to the Ottoman State and Turkey at the first quarter of the 20th century will be discussed