The Khilafat movement was launched by the Muslims in British India after the First World War in solidarity with the Ottoman Turkish sultan. The Sultan was regarded as the Caliph (Khalifa) or the leader of all Muslims. After the First World War ended in 1918 with the defeat of Turkey, the victorious allies, including the British decided to abolish the Sultanate and the Caliphate. This led to the agitation to preserve the Caliphate. The movement was led by the two brothers Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali. The Indian National Congress, under Mahatma Gandhi, supported the movement as a way to promote Hindu-Muslim unity in India. The movement, however, collapsed by 1924 when the Turkish themselves, led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, abolished the Sultanate and the position of the Caliph.