On this day March 3rd, 1924 the office of the Ottoman Chaliph was abolished. This marked the end of the 1,292 year old Chaliphate which began with Abu Bakr in the year 632 AD.
The President of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as part of his reforms, abolished the institution of the caliphate. Atatürk dismissed the last chaliph, Abdulmejid II (pictured), and offered the position to Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, in Libya, on the condition that he reside outside Turkey. Senussi declined the offer and the position was abolished.
The Caliph was nominally the supreme religious and political leader of all Muslims across the world, with the main goal to prevent extremism or protect the religion from corruption. It can be argued that the Muslim world has faced nothing but turmoil and extremism since the end of the Chaliphate.