Abolition of the Caliphate
The Ottoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognized caliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 by decree of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one of Atatürk's reforms following the replacement of the Ottoman Empire with the Republic of Turkey. Abdulmejid II was deposed as the last Ottoman caliph, as was Mustafa Sabri as the last Ottoman Shaykh al-Islām.
"The Last Caliph", an illustration in Le Petit Journal illustré in March 1924, shortly after the abolition was carried out.
Abolition of the Caliphate in 1924 as reported in The Times, 3 March 1924.
Abdulmejid being officially informed of his dethronement in March 1924.
The caliphate of the Ottoman Empire was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and early modern era. During the period of Ottoman expansion, Ottoman rulers claimed caliphal authority after the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by sultan Selim I in 1517 and the abolition of the Mamluk-controlled Abbasid Caliphate. This left Selim as the Defender of the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina and strengthened the Ottoman claim to leadership in the Muslim world.
The Battle of Marj Dabiq between the Ottoman and Mamluk armies
Commemorative plaque where the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed
Abdulmejid II, the last Ottoman caliph