Winter Jihad

The Winter Jihad, or simply the Russo-Arab War, was an armed conflict between Idrissid Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire against the Russian Empire that lasted from July 6th, 1859 to March 20th, 1860. The cause of the war was based around the Russian failure in the Crimean War and the continued need for expansion at the expense of the ever-declining Ottoman Empire, which would not be able to call forth it's allies of France and Great Britain. Seeing the need to better the relations in the north, the Idrissid Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire signed a military alliance in the case that if war were to be declared by Russia, then the Idrissid Caliphate would come to the direct aid of the Ottoman Empire. Eventually war would be declared by the Russian Empire, and soon war would begin in the caucasus region.

Caliph Khalid al-Idris would declare a military jihad against the Russian Empire following the start of a religious genocide of muslims in occupied Russian territory, which would end up causing the Qajar dynasty of Persia to subsequently also declare war against the Russian Empire. Although the Indian subcontinent was ruled by the British during this time, the British Crown had allowed for voluntary Indian muslims to help in the aid against the Russian Empire, allowing for a large enough force that would eventually push the Russian forces back into the Russian homeland. Although initially successful during the fall, the onset of winter had prompted for the Russian forces to begin making advancements, which would allow them to bring the war into a stalemate that would only worsen as the winter continued on. Eventually, Sultan Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire, Caliph Khalid al-Idris of the Idrissid Caliphate, and Emperor Alexander II of the Russian Empire would meet in Baghdad to sort out the following Treaty, which would end the conflict.

The Winter Jihad is historically significant in the Idrissid Caliphate for bringing together parts of the muslim world into a centralized community that could be directed, could accomplish conflicts, and establish resolutions, and remains as a celebrated victory throughout the Muslim world in the Arabian peninsula, Indian subcontinent, and the Idrissid Caliphate itself.