Part 5
By Dr. Humam Khan
The Role of the Pakistani Military in the Decline of the Ottoman Caliphate
In 1914, the First World War began. In this war, the Ottoman Caliphate participated alongside Germany. As a result of this decision, the Caliphate faced a severe and extensive invasion by European powers. Many countries, including Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Greece, launched attacks in coordination. This period was extremely delicate and critical for Islamic history. From a material standpoint, the powerful Crusader forces launched full-scale assaults on the heart of the Islamic world. During these sensitive moments, two opposing factions emerged among the Muslims in India.
The first group consisted of respected scholars, mujahideen, and ordinary Muslims. This group was ready to make any sacrifice for the defense of the Caliphate. These scholars, fighters, and common people actively participated in religious, military, and political fields. Among the prominent and leading figures of this group was Sheikh al-Hind, Maulana Mahmood al-Hasan (RH), who carried out his activities in coordination with members of the mujahideen from the frontier regions. These efforts were carried out in the form of military planning and the establishment of training camps. Sheikh al-Hind (RH) taught the youth military training and defensive skills, and he instilled in the people the spirit of sacrifice and steadfastness.
This movement not only mobilized the people but also established a practical foundation for the defense of the Caliphate. Britain considered this movement a serious threat and began to closely monitor it. Ultimately, they took Sheikh al-Hind (RH) from Hijaz and sent him to the Isle of Malta as a prisoner. On one hand, a clear and honorable historical story of sacrifice and the defense of the Caliphate was being written among the Muslims; on the other hand, in India, there existed a military and landed class that served the interests of British colonialism.
From September 1914 to November 1918, nearly 1.5 million soldiers, semi-military personnel, and civilians from various regions of India participated in battles under British command. These individuals were engaged in conflicts in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. During this four-year period, approximately 700,000 new soldiers were also recruited and enlisted from different parts of India.
About sixty percent of these soldiers were recruited solely from Punjab. These soldiers not only actively participated in battles but also played a significant role in strengthening Britain’s military strategy. The landed class residing in India also used their lands and resources to serve Britain. Thus, on one hand, the movement of Muslims’ sacrifice and the defense of the Caliphate grew stronger, while on the other hand, Britain fully exploited India’s material resources and military power.
The soldiers of this ill-fated army were deployed in Egypt to guard the Suez Canal. There, in January 1915, they repelled a major offensive by the Ottoman army and secured this crucial British commercial and military route. Additionally, these soldiers were assigned the task of protecting oil wells in Persia, ensuring their safety against Ottoman attacks and safeguarding British interests from any threat.
In February 1917, when British General Stanley Maude advanced toward Baghdad with a force of 166,000 troops, two-thirds of this army were Indian soldiers. With the help of these loyal soldiers, Britain fully captured Baghdad by March 11, 1917. Later, with the same army, William Marshal brought the city of Mosul, rich in large oil reserves, under his control in October 1918.
Later, when Britain’s Crusader army seized Palestine, the land of the Prophets, from the Muslims and began efforts to establish the Zionist state there, the Indian army was fully involved in this deplorable military invasion. The Crusader British General Allenby, upon entering Palestine, desecrated the shrine of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi (RH), disrespectfully trampling it with his foot and addressing it in a derogatory manner. Under his command, the army that captured Gaza in September 1917 and Jerusalem in December of the same year was largely composed of Indian units.
This was the same army that devoted its lives and wealth, not to defending the Caliphate or the lands of Islam, but to serving the British Empire. Their actions became a stain in history and a dark chapter of shame for Muslims. وهل من عار بعد هذا العار!!
The royal Indian army offered its “sacrifices” on every front for the benefit of the non-believers. Each infantry regiment from Meerut and Lahore suffered heavy losses at the hands of the German army. On one night in April 1915, during a poisonous gas attack, the Lahore regiment lost approximately four thousand soldiers, and many others were wounded, without even adequate medical care being provided to them.
Similarly, countless Indian soldiers were killed in the failed attempt to capture the historically and militarily significant Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli. During this period, in 1915, a Havildar Abdul Rahman of the “59th Sind Rifles” wrote a letter from Europe to his military comrade, Naik Raj Wali Khan (who belonged to the “21st Punjab Regiment” and was stationed in Zhob, Balochistan). This letter clearly illustrates how these mercenary soldiers sacrificed their lives and wealth in the service of tyranny:
“For God’s sake! Never join this European war! Never come! Never come! Never come! Write to me and inform me that neither you nor anyone from your battalion has been ordered to come here. I am extremely worried. Tell my brother Yaqub, for God’s sake, not to enlist! If any of your relatives have similar intentions, my advice to them is the same: never join this army… Here, the cannons, heavy rifles, and bombs fall like monsoon rain. Of those from our group who survive, their number is like a few grains left in the cooking pot. In my entire company (military unit), only ten remain, and in the whole battalion, only two hundred.”
Indeed, the unparalleled “sacrifices” of the royal Indian army (the foundation of the Pakistani regime) made it possible for Britain and its allies to succeed in the war that led to the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate and the defeat of Germany.
