It would then be by far the richest and most populous of
Mohammedan states, and able to outbid any other with the surrah it could
send to Mecca.
The Wakaf property in India at the present day is supposed to be as
valuable as that in the Ottoman empire, and it would then become a
source of patronage with the Government, instead of being privately
remitted as now. If money alone could buy the Caliphate, a successful
leader of revolt against the English in India might dictate his terms to
Islam. But again the insuperable obstacle intervenes of distance and the
sea. Mussulman India could never give that protection to Mecca that
Islam needs, and could not assert its sovereignty anywhere but at home,
in arms. Even this is assuming, as in the case of Barbary, an enormous
postulate--success.
Neither India, then, nor Western Africa can reasonably be expected to
supply that substitute for the House of Othman which we need. A more
apparent and in the opinion of some a likely candidate for the Caliphate
succession may be looked for in the Viceregal family of Egypt. Mohammed
Towfik, if he were a man of genius like his grandfather, or if, honest
man as he is, he plays his cards with success, might in a few years
become an important rival at Mecca to the Sultan.
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