Abstract
The Ottoman Empire was defeated in the First World War between 1914-1918 and signed the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918. The War of Independence actually started with Mustafa Kemal Pasha's landing in Samsun on 19 May 1919. It was not easy to carry out the independence struggle of the Turkish nation, considering the conditions of that day. Various remedies, including internal and external resources, were sought to meet the financial burden of the War of Independence. It was decided to receive assistance from foreign sources in a way that would not overshadow the independence of the Turkish nation. Indian Muslims, one of the external sources, declared to the Ankara Government that they would provide financial support to the War of Independence as the "Indian Islamic Society".
Expressing that he came to Turkey on behalf of the Indian-Islamic Society, Tevfik Ubud Efendi stated that he wanted to come to Ankara and meet with Mustafa Kemal Pasha directly. Tevfik Ubud Efendi told the officials of the Ministry of War that he had brought a check for three million rubles with him. He stated that he would donate money in different amounts on behalf of the Indian-Islamic Society in the future. At that time, this support had an important place for the Turkish finance, which was very worn out at the end of the long wars. Mustafa Kemal Pasha gave the necessary orders to the authorities to send Tevfik Ubud Efendi, who had come to Mersin, to Ankara. Tevfik Ubud Efendi did not deliver the three million-ruble check that he said he brought, and none of the other money he expressed, to the Ankara Government. In various sources, it is stated that the Indian-Islamic Society provided financial support to the War of Independence. It is understood that the previously stated amounts were included in the archive documents we examined, but the amounts mentioned in the same archive documents were not delivered to the Ankara Government.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha, in his work called Nutuk, which he wrote after the proclamation of the republic, did not include any information or document about the money coming from the Indian Islamic Society, although the documents of what happened from the time he went to Samsun on 19 May 1919 until 1927 were recorded in history. Tevfik Ubud Efendi, who said that he would provide financial aid on behalf of the Indian Islamic Society, admitted that he was spying on behalf of the French at the end of the trials. As a result of the researches, it was understood that Tevfik Ubud Efendi was not a member of the Indian-Islamic Society. In this study, it will be examined whether financial aid was given to the War of Independence from the Indian-Islamic Society by making use of archival documents and first-hand sources. The Tevfik Ubud Efendi file, which we obtained from ATASE archive documents, will form the basis of our study.