The Ali Brothers

Two brothers from Rampur led a movement together. They also went to jail together, and in the end they broke with Congress together.

Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ali Jauhar were known as the Ali Brothers. For a few bright years, they stood at the centre of Hindu-Muslim unity.

1Who were the Ali Brothers?

Shaukat Ali was born in 1873. Mohammad Ali Jauhar was born five years later, in 1878. Their family was wealthy, with roots in Najibabad. Jauhar was born in Rampur.

Their father died when the boys were young. Their mother made sure they were well educated. Both studied at Aligarh. Jauhar later went to Lincoln College, Oxford, to study modern history.

Shaukat Ali served for 17 years in the civil service of the United Provinces. Jauhar worked in the education service of Rampur and in Baroda. Both then turned to public life.

• Shaukat Ali, born 1873; Mohammad Ali Jauhar, born 1878.
• Both studied at Aligarh; Jauhar went to Oxford.
• Shaukat Ali served 17 years in the civil service.
• Both turned to journalism and politics.

2What did they publish and build?

Jauhar launched the English weekly The Comrade in Calcutta in 1911. In 1913 he began the Urdu daily Hamdard. Shaukat Ali helped to run them. The two papers shaped opinion among Muslims across India.

British officials grew uneasy about their writing. In 1915 an article said the Turks were right to fight the British. After that the brothers were watched closely.

Jauhar also helped found Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920. It is still a leading university today.

• 1911: The Comrade in English.
• 1913: Hamdard in Urdu.
• Papers shaped Muslim opinion and worried officials.
• Jauhar co-founded Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920.

3How did they lead the Khilafat Movement?

After the First World War, the fate of the Ottoman Caliph worried many Indian Muslims. The Ali Brothers became leaders of the Khilafat Movement. They joined it to Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation campaign.

Jauhar had already been president of the All-India Muslim League in 1918. In 1919 he led a Muslim delegation to England. It asked the British government to protect the position of the Ottoman Sultan, who was seen as the Caliph. The British refused, and anger grew back home.

The alliance made Hindu-Muslim unity a central idea of the national struggle. Crowds in many towns heard the brothers speak.

Both were jailed. Shaukat Ali served a term from 1921 to 1923 for backing Non-Cooperation. Jauhar was arrested in September 1921 and tried at Karachi. A speech on Muslims in the army led to a two-year sentence.

• 1919-1924: the Khilafat Movement.
• Allied with Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation.
• Jauhar arrested at Karachi, September 1921.
• Both brothers served prison terms.
• Jauhar led a 1919 delegation to England; refused.

4Why did they break with Congress?

Jauhar became Congress president in 1923. His term lasted only a few months. Gandhi had ended Non-Cooperation abruptly, and Jauhar disagreed with that choice.

The break deepened in 1928. The Nehru Report proposed a constitution for India. It did not give Muslims separate electorates. The brothers opposed it and wanted such electorates kept.

Jauhar attended the first Round Table Conference in London in 1930. He died there on 4 January 1931. He had asked to be buried in a free land, and he was buried in Jerusalem. Shaukat Ali joined the Muslim League in 1936 and died in 1938.

• Jauhar: Congress president, 1923.
• Broke with Congress over the 1928 Nehru Report.
• Jauhar died in London, 4 January 1931.
• Shaukat Ali joined the Muslim League in 1936.

5What role did their mother play?

Abadi Bano Begum was known as Bi Amman. She raised her sons after her husband died. She insisted that they be educated.

She also took part in public life. When her sons were in jail, she spoke at meetings and called for their release. Her speeches showed that women could stand at the front of the movement.

• Known as Bi Amman.
• Insisted on her sons’ education.
• Spoke in public when the brothers were jailed.
• Read about the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep the brothers apart and keep the years straight.

• Jauhar, not Shaukat Ali, was Congress president in 1923.
• The two papers: The Comrade (English) and Hamdard (Urdu).
• The trigger for the break: the 1928 Nehru Report.
• Shaukat Ali joined the Muslim League in 1936.
• Do not mix up Khilafat (1919-1924) with Non-Cooperation (1920-1922).
• See the Non-Cooperation Movement and the All-India Muslim League.