The Khilafat agitation is also known as the Khilafat Movement. It was a significant political and religious movement during 1920s. It was launched to protest against the mistreatment of the caliph.
In the First World War, Ottoman Turkey was defeated and a harsh peace treaty was imposed on Turkish Sultan or Khalifa, the spiritual head of the Islamic world by the British. To defend Khalifa's power, a Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919. Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali were the leaders of Khilafat agitation.