In his work People’s Mission, Burak Akçapar focuses on the historical dynamics that came into play in the dispatching of the Indian Medical Mission led by Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari for supporting the Ottoman Empire, the delegation’s interactions with local politicians and bureaucrats, and the devoted work they conducted during the war.

Akçapar discovered the traces of the Medical Mission, which is the main subject of the study, in letters published in the Delhi periodical Comrade during the period, in which Ansari described in some detail his daily activities in the Ottoman lands.

Within the framework of Pan-Islamism, Akçapar analyzes the loyalty of the Indian Muslims to the Ottoman sultan, whom they considered the Caliph Sultan, and as period narratives, the published letters provide fascinating clues about the political, economic, social affairs of the Ottoman Empire and as well as its relationship with other states during its final epoch.

The work also includes an anthology of the letters that Comrade published a century ago, in print for the first time in their entirety. The letters feature the authentic voice of Ansari and his colleagues, Ansari’s diary of experiences in the field as Indian Muslims supporting the only surviving Muslim state.