Between Humanitarianism and Diplomacy: British Relief, Indian Muslims, and the British-Ottoman Alliance, 1877–78

This article examines the intersection of humanitarianism and diplomacy during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, focusing on the role of the Muslims of the Raj as a motivating factor behind the initiation of the “civil” British relief campaigns for war-affected Ottoman soldiers and civilians. It argues that the mobilisation of Indian Muslim opinion served as a crucial instrument in shaping the British-Ottoman alliance and the politics of public diplomacy for both sides. Drawing upon parliamentary debates, archival correspondence, and contemporary newspapers, the study situates Ottoman-British relief cooperation within a broader framework of public diplomacy, transimperial networks, and imperial anxiety regarding the Caliphate. The article contributes to the scholarship on late Ottoman diplomacy by highlighting the strategic interplay between philanthropy, Islamic solidarity, and British colonial governance. Moreover, it reassesses the chronology of Hamidian public diplomacy by locating the entry of humanitarian discourse at the very outset of the Hamidian era, during the crisis of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.