Treaty of Sèvres (1920); World War, 1914-1918 -- Territorial questions -- Turkey; World War, 1914-1918 -- Turkey
The delegation of the Moslems of India for the defence of the Caliphate
sent to the Peace Conference was headed by Mohammed Ali, who, in 1914,
on behalf of the Government of India, had written to Talaat, Minister
of the Interior, to ask him not to side with the Central Empires,
and to show him how difficult the situation of the Indian Mussulmans
would be if Turkey entered into the war against England. On landing in
Venice, he told the correspondent of the _Giornale d’Italia_ that the
object of his journey was to convince the Allies that the dismemberment
of the Ottoman Empire would be a danger to the peace of the world.
“The country we represent numbers 70 million Mohammedans and 230
million men belonging to other religions but agreeing with us on
this point. So we hope that if the Allies really want to establish
the peace of the world, they will take our reasons into account.
Italy has hitherto supported us, and we hope the other nations will
follow her example.”
This delegation was first received by Mr. Fisher, representing
Mr. Montagu, Indian Secretary, to whom they explained the serious
consequences which the carrying out of the conditions of peace
contemplated for Turkey might have in their country.
Mr. Lloyd George, in his turn, received the delegation on March 19,
before it was heard by the Supreme Council. Mohammed Ali, after
pointing to the bonds that link together the Mohammedans of India
and the Caliphate, because Islam is not only a set of doctrines and
dogmas but forms both a moral code and a social polity, recalled
that, according to the Muslim doctrine, the Commander of the Faithful
must always own a territory, an army, and resources to prevent the
aggression of adversaries who have not ceased to arm themselves;
he maintained, therefore, that the seat of the Sultan’s temporal
power must be maintained in Constantinople; that Turkey must not be
dismembered; and that Arabia must be left under Turkish sovereignty.
“Islam has always had two centres, the first a personal one and
the other a local one. The personal centre is the Caliph, or the
Khalifa, as we call him—the successor of the Prophet. Because
the Prophet was the personal centre of Islam, his successors, or
Khalifas, continue his tradition to this day. The local centre
is the region known as the Jazirat-ul-Arab, or the ‘Island of
Arabia,’ the ‘Land of the Prophets.’ To Islam, Arabia has been not
a peninsula but an island, the fourth boundary being the waters of
the Euphrates and the Tigris....
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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