Real Story of the End of Ottoman Caliphate Is the Story of an Europeanised Military
By
Jahangir Mohammed
15 March 2021
The 3rd of
March 1924 is a date etched in most Muslim minds as the moment the Ottoman
Khilafah (Caliphate) ended. This year, some Muslims are commemorating the
100-year anniversary (in the Hijri calendar) since the end of the Khilafah. It
marked the end of a title, political system, and ideal that had existed in one
shape or another since the death of the Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allahu
‘Alayhi Wa Sallam). Many modern-day Muslim-majority states were created out
of the collapse of the Ottoman State and its replacement with a Turkish
nationalist state. In that sense, the end of the Ottoman Khilafah is a major
event in Muslim history. Beyond that significance, however, there is a great
deal to disagree, debate, and learn about the Ottoman period of Muslim history,
and it is certainly fascinating.
The Ottoman
rulers held the title of both Sultan and Caliph. Their rule and Sultanate
lasted 624 years. The House of ‘Uthman (Osman I) was a hereditary dynasty, and
the Sultan was an absolute ruler over the ‘Uthmani (Ottoman) State. The Sultan
was also the Supreme Military Commander. The House of Usman ruled from 1299 to
1922, when the Office of Sultanate was abolished in a vote by the Turkish
General National Assembly (TGNA). The position of Sultan existed before the title
and functions of Caliphate were adopted by the Ottomans.
As early
Ottoman rule expanded into wider territories, it assumed the functions and
roles of those it conquered. Some Ottoman Sultans had already started to claim
the authority of Caliphate from the Caliphs of the Mamluke Sultanate of Cairo.
However, after the Ottoman Sultan Selim l defeated the Mamluk Al-Mutawakkil III
in 1517, the office/title of Caliphate was also transferred to the Ottoman
Sultans (others in the Muslim world argue it was taken by force). The Sultans
therefore also became Caliphs, as had been the case among other dynastic
rulers.
The Ottoman
position of Caliphate was formally abolished on 3rd March 1924 after a long
debate and vote at the TGNA.
However,
any serious reading of history would conclude that the last Caliph who had
political authority was Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The three that came after
him—Mehmed V Rashad, Mehmed VI Wahid ad-Din, and Abdul Majid II—had nominal
political roles and were in fact constitutional monarchs or figureheads
stripped of their authority. They cannot be described as rulers, let alone
Caliphs.
The real
story of the end of Caliphate is the story of the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II
and his valiant attempts to save both the Ottoman State and the Caliphate over
33 years, which ultimately ended in failure. It is also the story of an
Europeanised military, administrative, and upper ruling class who turned
against their ruler and traditions, for what they believed to be modernism and
progressive European ideals.
The
Broken Caliphate
Historians
say that fate dealt Sultan Abdul Hamid II an unkind inheritance. By the time he
came to power on 31st August 1876, Ottoman rule, the Sultanate, and the
Caliphate were already showing signs of disintegration and collapse. The Sultan
had more than his fair share of challenges to deal with, and the odds were
stacked against him. A few are mentioned below.
As a result
of the Crimean War against the Russian Empire in 1853-1856 (in which Britain
and France allied with the Ottomans to defeat the Russians), the Ottoman State
ended up in debt, and had to take out loans with foreign-controlled banks. By
1875, the public debt had reached £200 million, and the state was having to
repay around £12 million a year (including interest). The Ottomans’ limited
ability to raise funds through taxes meant the debt situation got worse. The
loan repayment eventually led to a situation in which the Ottoman State
defaulted on its loans in 1875 and declared bankruptcy. When Abdul Hamid came
to power, he was forced to deal with foreign bankers and governments with their
conditions and restructure the debt. The economic situation remained a problem
throughout his reign and effectively gave foreign powers control over Ottoman
affairs and revenues.
European
political values and ideals had been embraced by Ottoman elites and society,
especially the ideals of the French Revolution and constitutionalism. These
were taken up and embraced by the Young Ottomans and the Young Turks. The
“modernists” of the Young Turks were emulating the French Revolution. The
Sultanate and the Caliphate were viewed as obstacles to modernisation, and just
as the French had got rid of their monarch, the Young Turks were trying to
disempower theirs. Much of these modernist political reforms had already taken
place with several edicts before 1876.
Sultan
Abdul Hamid was not the preferred choice of the reformers in the
administration. His brother, the liberal French-speaking Murad V, had been
their choice. However, after a rule of only 93 days, Murad had to be replaced
due to mental illness.
Sultan
Abdul Hamid came to power in 1876. It was the result of an agreement with
Midhat Pasha and the reformers to introduce a European-style constitution,
parliament, and elections, whilst retaining the role of the Sultan as a
constitutional monarch. He had no choice but to agree. Had he not agreed to it,
he would likely have ended up meeting the same fate as his uncle Abdul Aziz
(who had been assassinated). This shows that the locus of power had already
shifted away from the Sultanate, whilst the Caliphate had not really been used
as a rallying force for some time. It was a shift that Abdul Hamid would try
and reverse during his reign. In the end, he was only able to delay what seemed
inevitable by 33 years.
His own
views were neither nationalist nor based on Western notions of polity. He was
committed to Islamic (Shari’a) rule, the Caliphate, and the Ummah. This becomes
evident in his policies and politics. Most historians recognise his politics
were very much Islamically orientated and refer to this as a pan-Islamic agenda.
It was known by Muslims and Ulema at the time as Ittihad-i Islami (Muslim unity
or unification).
This is not
to say that Abdul Hamid was not committed to reforms in other areas where
Ottoman society had fallen behind the West, such as military training, skills
and techniques, infrastructure development, the sciences, and education
standards. Much progress was made in these areas under his rule, including the
construction of the Hijaz railway line.
The
First Ottoman Constitution and Parliament
On taking
office, the Sultan’s first challenge was introducing the Constitution and
Parliament of the Ottoman Empire, which he had agreed to, whilst retaining
power. As well as internal pressure for the reforms, there were external
pressures from European countries for the Ottomans to reform, primarily to the
benefit of Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire.
The period
of 1876-1878 is commonly known as the First Constitutional Era. The
European-style constitution introduced on 23rd December 1876 was the first of
its type in any Islamic country. The Sultan, however, retained some executive
powers, but his role of Caliph was reduced to “defender of the Muslim religion”
in the same way as European monarchs were defenders of the Christian faith.
All
Ottomans irrespective of religion were now legally equal citizens of a state
and had personal liberty, as long as they did not impinge on the liberty of
others. The Sultan’s powers were akin to a form of constitutional monarch.
There was to be a bicameral parliament (an elected lower house and an upper
house appointed by the Sultan). There were no political parties as such, but
deputies were elected to the parliament. The constitution was drafted by the
Young Ottomans and Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha. Between February-March 1877,
parliamentary elections took place. On 19th March, the first ever parliament
was inaugurated with 115 deputies, 67 Muslims, 48 non-Muslims (44 Christians
and four Jews), comprising 14 different nationalities.
The
constitution and parliament were generally celebrated as a victory equal to
that achieved in the French Revolution. On the other hand, some Ulema and
Muslims viewed the constitution and parliament as a violation of Islam and
Shari’a law.
Sultan
Abdul Hamid himself had no real commitment to a Western-style constitution. He
saw it as a violation of his authority and Islam, so he eventually dissolved
the parliament, reinstating Islamic rule as Sultan and Caliph in 1878. Midhat
Pasha was sacked and went into exile.
War with
Russia
A year into
office, Sultan Abdul Hamid was faced with war. Russia declared war on the
Ottomans in April 1877.
Russia
mobilised huge support forces from Christians in Romania, Bulgaria, Finland,
Caucasus, and Armenia, against an Ottoman army of 100,000 men. Heavily
outnumbered, the Ottomans were not able to stop the Russian advance.
Facing
defeat, the Ottomans offered a truce on 31st January 1878. Britain, more
concerned about a Russian takeover of Ottoman lands in Europe, intervened to
support the Ottomans and put pressure on the Russians to accept the truce.
However, the Russians continued towards Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire was
now on the brink of a Russian occupation. The British then sent a fleet of its
warships to threaten the Russians and stop their march to Constantinople
(within 10 miles), which did indeed stop their advance at San Stefano. Had it
not been for British intervention, the Russians would have taken the capital
and ended Ottoman rule. Eventually, the San Stefano Treaty was signed on 3rd
March 1878, followed by the Treaty of Berlin. The net effect was that the
Ottomans had lost much of their European territories and Christian communities.
Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro became independent. Bulgaria became autonomous,
and the Armenian desire for independence was placed in the hands of the
European powers. The Ottomans agreed to reforms in Armenia under the
supervision of European powers. The Armenian population were now to become a
permanent rebellious problem for the Sultan and the Ottomans, culminating
eventually in accusations of genocide against the Ottoman state in 1915.
This war
left the Ottomans economically broken and dependent on bankers and European
powers for survival. The latter now had a great deal of influence in the
affairs of the Ottoman government. British help came at a price –
administration of Cyprus was handed over to Britain in 1878, and Britain sent
troops to Egypt in 1881 to help put down the ‘Urabi revolt. Britain was effectively
now in control of both these Ottoman territories, which they eventually annexed
in 1914 when the Ottomans joined the Germans in the First World War. Meanwhile,
the French had already invaded Algeria in 1830 and occupied Tunisia in 1881.
The East India Company had handed control of India to Britain in 1858. The
Ottomans had been powerless to stop the colonisation of the Muslim world that
had occurred during their rule.
However,
the Ottomans had devoted a great deal of political energy, resources, and military
manpower to keeping Christian communities under their rule by force. The
consequence of those efforts and wars in Europe was that it broke the back of
the Ottoman state and led to a neglect of its Muslim territories.
Ottoman
experiences of war in Europe probably shaped Sultan Abdul Hamid’s subsequent
approach and policies. He recognised that diplomacy—not war with Europeans—was
the best option, and that the Ottoman army needed modernisation. He realised
that the Muslim territories were genuinely committed to the Caliphate and that
he needed to reorient his policies towards them. He also realised that adopting
reforms to keep Christian communities and the Europeans happy was not the way
forward, and that he should refocus the Empire’s reforms towards Islam and the
Muslim world.
The Last
Stand of Sultan Abdul Hamid
The demand
for restoration of the constitution and parliament continued among the liberals
and reformists among the Ottoman ruling class. The Committee for Union and
Progress (CUP), which started as a secretive political party, was now at the
forefront of instigating demands for change.
The
unionists in the Ottoman Third Army based in Salonika rebelled against the
Sultan in July 1908. A military coup was in progress to bring about the reforms
demanded by the coup leaders, and it was the start of what is widely known as
the Young Turk revolution. Realising he would be overthrown, Sultan Abdul Hamid
capitulated to the demands of the coup leaders on the 24th July – this was the
start of the second constitutional era. Whilst the Sultan retained his position
and some authority, real power had now been transferred to the committee of the
CUP and the Ottoman Parliament. It also started a period in which political
parties were formed.
Towards the
end of 1908, elections took place for the new parliament, and the CUP (the main
force behind the coup and revolution) had 60 seats. The 288-seat parliament
contained a variety of representatives of ethnicities from across the Empire,
which only led to the rise of ethnic nationalist sentiments. The parliament
first met in January 1909, but gradually descended into chaos and factionalism,
and could not effectively govern.
Sultan
Abdul Hamid and those loyal to his Islamic politics in the army and among the
religious class then attempted a counter-revolution, demanding the restoration
of Islamic rule and restoration of power to the Caliphate. Forces led by Sultan
Abdul Hamid II, together with religious students, started a counter-revolution
on 13th April 1909 (known as the 31st March incident). By April 24th, the
counter-revolution had been defeated. Sultan Abdul Hamid had been overthrown,
and his brother placed as Sultan (constitutional monarch) whilst retaining the
title of Caliph symbolically. There were now two Caliphs: the real one
imprisoned in Salonika, and the other a mere figurehead. This symbolic
Caliphate gave legitimacy to the CUP and parliament, and eventually to the
military dictatorship of the Three Pashas who led the Ottomans to the disaster
of the First Word War in an alliance with Germany. It was Mehmed Talat Pasha,
Ismail Enver Pasha, and Ahmed Djemal Pasha (the triumvirate), who entered an
alliance with Germany which led to World War I. The alliance with Germany did
not contain the signature of Sultan Mehmed V, who was technically still the
commander of the Ottoman armed forces. After defeat in the War, the Young Turks
no longer needed the fig leaf of either a symbolic Sultan or Caliph. Had the
Ottomans remained neutral in the War or allied with Britain, the Ottoman State
may well have survived.
In
conclusion, the Ottoman Caliphate ended in April 1909 with the final defeat of
the last Caliph Sultan Abdul Hamid II, not the 3rd of March 1924. Abdul Hamid
was a prisoner for the rest of his life. He died in custody at Beylerbeyi
Palace on 10th February 1918. His crimes were for attempting to preserve the
Caliphate and Islamic ruling. He was a prisoner and victim of his own people
and rising nationalist liberal Western politics among them. It is perhaps time
to recognise him as a shahid and correct our understanding of this period of
history.
It is also
time to stop blaming Britain, the Arabs, or Zionist Jews for the end of the
Ottoman state. Ultimately, the Ottomans themselves put an end to their own
Sultanate and Caliphate.
The Ottoman
Caliphate is also often blamed for the Armenian genocide of 1915. This genocide
occurred under the rule of the Three Pashas, all of whom were involved with the
nationalist Young Turk movement, not Islamic movements.
Perhaps the
sad story of the end of the Ottoman Khilafah is best summed up by writer and
historian Ahmet Rasim. He had been a well-known critic of Abdul Hamid during
his life, but after the Sultan died wrote the following words:
“If not
you, but your dead body becomes our Sultan, it is acceptable, even if your
coffin ascends on the Ottoman throne, it will be better than now.”
----
Notes:
This is
an extract from a much longer, fully referenced paper titled “Sultan Abdul
Hamid II and the End of Ottoman Caliphate” written by Jahangir Mohammed in
February 2018, and due to be published later this year.
Jahangir
Mohammed is the Director of the Centre for Muslim Affairs
Original
Headline: End of the Ottoman Caliphate:
The ‘Real Story’
Source: The Islam 21