IOR/L/PS/10/518

The volume contains papers relating to the attitude of Muslims, mainly Muslims in India, towards the participation of Great Britain [the United Kingdom] and Turkey [the Ottoman Empire] in the First World War.

Most of the volume consists of papers sent to the Permanent Under Secretary of State for India (Sir Thomas William Holderness) from the Government of India Home Department (on 1, 8, 15 and 29 October 1914, and 11, 12, 19, 25 and 26 November 1914), concerning: the attitude of Muslims in India (and Burma) towards British involvement in the War; the possibility of Turkey entering the War on the side of Germany and Austria; and declarations of loyalty to the British crown and the British Government from Indian Muslims following the outbreak of war with Turkey.

The papers sent by the Government of India Home Department include:

• Copies of memoranda prepared by the Director of Criminal Intelligence [for India], and the Government of India Home Department and Foreign and Political Department
• Copies of extracts from reports on the internal political situation in Indian provinces
• Copies of articles from Muslim newspapers published in India
• Copies of letters and telegrams to the Government of India Foreign and Political Department and Home Department from Provincial Governments in India, forwarding declarations of loyalty to Britain in the War, and expressions of regret at the entry of Turkey into the War, from mass meetings of Muslims, provincial Muslim League meetings, meetings of other Muslim associations, and Muslim individuals, in those provinces
• Copies of telegrams to the Viceroy of India and his Private Secretary from individuals communicating declarations of loyalty on behalf of such mass meetings and Muslim associations.

The papers forwarded to Holderness with the Government of India Home Department letter of 25 November 1914 also include: a copy of a letter from the Political Agent and HM Consul, Masqat [Muscat], to the Foreign and Political Department, 2 November 1914, enclosing a letter from the Sultan of Masqat, in response to a letter from the Political Agent and HM Consul informing the Sultan about the presence of a British expeditionary force at Bahrain; and a weekly letter from the Political Resident at Aden, 31 October 1914, regarding the situation and public feeling towards the British in Aden.

The volume also includes:

• Two letters to King George V from Robert Ahmed Quilliam, President of the British Muslims Association, enclosing a resolution and declaration expressing loyalty to the King and attempting to persuade Muslims that siding with Turkey in a ‘Holy War’ against Great Britain would be (Quilliam asserted) contrary to the tenets of Islam
• Letters from the London All-India Muslim League to the Under-Secretaries of State for India and Foreign Affairs, 5 November 1914, forwarding copies of resolutions adopted by the Committee of the League, condemning the entry of Turkey into the First World War on the side of Germany, and stating that the Committee considered it to be the duty of ‘Mussulmans’ [Muslims] of India to remain loyal to the British crown
• A copy of a letter from the Counsellor of the Embassy, Cairo (Milne Cheetham) to Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, enclosing a letter from Reginald Wingate, Governor-General of Sudan (with enclosures), reporting expressions of regret at Turkey’s entry into the War and declarations of loyalty to Great Britain received from Muslim inhabitants of Sudan
• A copy of a telegram from the Governor of the East Africa Protectorate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 9 November 1914, reporting ‘Attitude of Mohammedan [Muslim] Community entirely satisfactory’
• A copy of a letter from Errol MacDonell, Consul-General, Portuguese East Africa, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 11 November 1914, enclosing a memorandum from the Shia Imami Ismaili Council, Lourenco Marques [Maputo, Mozambique], expressing their loyalty to the British Empire.

In addition, the volume includes India Office Political and Secret minute papers, and Political and Secret Department reference papers (referring papers to the India Office Judicial and Public Department for information and comment), with comments on the above papers.

The volume includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.