Multan - WikiHQ

Multan is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the sixth-largest city in the country; and serves as the administrative headquarters of its eponymous division and district. A major cultural, religious and economic centre of the Punjab region, Multan is one of the oldest inhabited cities of Asia, with a history stretching deep into antiquity.

Multan was part of the Achaemenid Empire in the early 6th century BC. The ancient city was besieged by Alexander the Great during the Mallian campaign. Later it was conquered by the Umayyad military commander Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 CE after the conquest of Sindh. In the 9th century, it became capital of the Emirate of Multan. The region came under the rule of Ghaznavid and the Delhi Sultanates in the medieval period. In 1445, it became capital of Langah Sultanate. Multan Subah was one of the largest provinces of the Mughal Empire. The Sikhs ruled over Multan from 1818 till 1849 when it was conquered by the British and made part of the British Punjab.

The city was among the most important trading centres of South Asia with strong ties to Iran, Central Asia and the rest of the Persianate and Muslim world. It was a great centre of knowledge and learning in medieval South Asia during the Turkish-Persian rule,

Etymology

The origin of Multan's name is unclear. An ancient known name of the city was Malli-istan; Malli was the name of a tribe that inhabited the region and city. The city name may have been derived from the deity of the ancient Multan Sun Temple. Some have suggested the name derives from the Old Persian word mulastāna, 'frontier land', while others have ascribed its origin to the Sanskrit word mūlasthāna.

History

Origin

The region around Multan is home to several archaeological sites dating to the early Harappan period of the Indus Valley Civilisation between 3000 BC to 2800 BC. According to the Hindu religious texts, Multan was founded by the sage Kashyapa. These texts also assert that Multan was the capital of the Trigarta Kingdom ruled by the Katoch dynasty during the Kurukshetra War that is central to the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata. The city was visited by Greek admiral Skylax, who passed through the area in 515 BCE. The city was also mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus in 400 BC.

Greek Invasion

Multan is believed to have been the Malli capital that was conquered by Alexander the Great in 326 BCE as part of the Mallian Campaign. The Mallian people, together with nearby tribes, gathered an army of 90,000 personnel to fight against an army of 50,000 Greeks. This was perhaps the largest army faced by Greeks in the entire subcontinent. During the siege of the city's citadel, Alexander reputedly leaped into the inner area of the citadel, where he faced the Mallian leader. Alexander was wounded by an arrow that had penetrated his lung, leaving him severely injured. After a fierce battle at the site of 'Khooni Burj' the Mallian army eventually surrendered, preventing further bloodshed. During Alexander's era, Multan was located on an island in the Ravi river, which has since shifted course numerous times throughout the centuries.

By the mid 7th century CE, Multan was conquered by Chach of Alor, of the Buddhist Rai dynasty. Chach appointed a thakur to govern from Multan, and used his army to settle boundary disputes with Kashmir.

Kathi period

Several historians have suggested that before the Muslim invasion, the Valas, a prominent clan of the Kathi Rajputs, were among the early rulers of the Thatta region. These groups are thought to have originally resided along the Indus River, encompassing areas such as Thatta and Multan, before migrating to the Kathiawar region of present-day Gujarat, India. In the bardic tradition, the Vala rulers are associated with the birad, or blessing, of "Tatta Multan ka Rao" (Lords of Thatta and Multan), a title that underscores their historical ties to these locations.

Islamic invasion

Multan was first invaded by a Muslim army after the reign of the caliph Ali, in 664 CE, when Mohalib, an Arab general, occupied the city. The expedition, however, seems to have been directed towards exploration of the country as no attempt was apparently made to retain the conquest. Following ibn Qasim's conquest, the city's Subjects remained mostly non-Muslim for the next few decades under the Umayyad Caliphate.

Abbasid Emirate

By the mid-800s, the Banu Munabbih (855–959) also known as the Banu Sama, who claimed descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad's Quraysh tribe came to rule Multan, and established the Emirate of Banu Munabbih, which ruled for the next century. The Hindu temple was noted to have accrued the Muslim rulers large tax revenues,

By the mid 10th century, Multan had come under the influence of the Qarmatian Ismailis. The Qarmatians had been expelled from Egypt and Iraq following their defeat at the hands of the Abbasids there. Qarmatians zealots had famously sacked Mecca, and outraged the Muslim world with their theft and ransom of the Kaaba's Black Stone, and desecration of the Zamzam Well with corpses during the Hajj season of 930 CE.

The governor of Jhang, Umar bin Hafas, was a clandestine supporter of the Fatimid movement and the Batiniya influence spread in Southern Punjab. Then, the Qarmatians who had established contacts with the Fatimids in Egypt set up an independent dynasty in Multan and ruled the surrounding areas.

They wrested control of the city from the pro-Abbasid Amirate of Banu Munabbih, The Qarmatian Ismailis opposed Hindu pilgrims worshipping the sun, and destroyed the Sun Temple and smashed its revered Aditya idol in the late 10th century. The Qarmatians built an Ismaili congregational mosque above the ruins to replace the city's Sunni congregational mosque that had been established by the city's early rulers.

11th-16th century CE

thumb|Multan is famous for its large number of Sufi shrines, including the unique rectangular tomb of [[Shah Gardez that dates from the 1150s and is covered in blue enameled tiles typical of Multan.]]

thumb|upright|The shrine of [[Shamsuddin Sabzwari dates from 1330, and has a unique green dome.]]

thumb|The [[Mausoleum of Shah Ali Akbar dating from the 1580s was built in the regional style that is typical of Multan's shrines.]]

Ghaznavid dynasty

Mahmud of Ghazni in 1005 led an expedition against Multan's Qarmatian ruler Abul Fateh Daud. The city was surrendered, and Fateh Daud was permitted to retain control over the city with the condition that he adhere to Sunnism. In 1007, Mahmud led another expedition to Multan against his former minister and Hindu convert, Niwasa Khan, who had renounced Islam and attempted to establish control of the region in collusion with Abul Fateh Daud of Multan. He destroyed the Ismaili congregational mosque that had been built above the ruins of the Multan Sun Temple, and restored the city's old Sunni congregational mosque, built by Muhammad bin Qasim. In the early 12th century, Multani poet Abdul Rahman penned the Sandesh Rasak,

Ghurid dynasty

In 1175, Muhammad Ghori conquered Ismaili-ruled Multan, He gathered a large army from Uch, Multan and Bukkhar (Sukkur) and Mongols were repulsed. while the Mongols tried to capture the city in 1241 after capturing Lahore – though they were repulsed.

Khalji's invasion

Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji dispatched his brother Ulugh Khan in 1296 to conquer Multan region which was governed by surviving family members of his predecessor, Sultan Jalal-ud-din Khalji.

After usurping the throne of Delhi, Alauddin decided to eliminate the surviving family members of Jalaluddin, who were present in Multan. In November 1296, he sent a 30,000–40,000 strong army led by Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan to Multan who successfully captured the city after two months of siege.

Amir Khusrau, the famous Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar visited Multan on the invitation of Khan Muhammad. Multan at the time was the gateway to India and was a center of knowledge and learning. Caravans of scholars, tradesmen and emissaries transited through Multan from Baghdad, Arabia and Persia on their way to Delhi. Khusrau wrote that:

I tied the belt of service on my waist and put on the cap of companionship for another five years. I imparted lustre to the water of Multan from the ocean of my wits and pleasantries.

Tughluq dynasty

thumb|Multan's [[Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is considered to be the earliest Tughluq era monument. In 1328, the Governor of Multan, Kishlu Khan, rose in rebellion against Muhammad Tughluq, but was quickly defeated.

The Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam was completed during the Tughluq era, and is considered to be the first Tughluq monument. The shrine is believed to have been originally built to be the tomb of Ghiyath ad-Din, but was later donated to the descendants of Rukn-e-Alam after Ghiyath became Emperor of Delhi.

The renowned Arab explorer Ibn Battuta visited Multan in the 1300s during the reign of Muhammad Tughluq, and noted that Multan was a trading centre for horses imported from as far away as the Russian Steppe. Pir Muhammad's forces captured the city in 1398 following the conclusion of the 6-month-long siege. Also in 1398, the elder Tamerlane and Multan's governor Khizr Khan together accomplished the Sack of Delhi.

Langah Sultanate

Multan then passed to the Langah, who established the Langah Sultanate in Multan under the rule of Budhan Khan, who assumed the title Mahmud Shah. or of Turkic or Turco-Mongol extraction.

Suri dynasty

In 1541, the Pashtun king Sher Shah Suri captured Multan, and successfully defended the city from the advances of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. In 1543, Sher Shah Suri expelled Baloch dynasty, who under the command of Fateh Khan Mirrani had overrun the city. It then served as the starting point for trade caravans from medieval India departing towards West Asia. Legal records from the Uzbek city of Bukhara note that Multani merchants settled and owned land in the city in the late 1550s. Many of Multan's merchants then migrated to Shikarpur in Sindh, thereby re-establishing Mughal rule in Multan. The Mughals controlled the Multani region from 1524 until around 1739. Emperor Akbar established the Subah of Multan with its headquarters at Multan city, which was one of his original twelve subahs (imperial top-level administrative provinces) roughly covering southern Punjab, parts of Khyber and Balochistan bordering Kabul Subah, Lahore Subah, Ajmer Subah, Thatta Subah, Kandahar Subah and the Persian Safavid empire. It was one of Mughal Empire's largest provinces by land area and population.

In 1627, Multan was encircled by walls that were built on the order of Murad Baksh, son of Shah Jahan.

In the second half of the 17th century, Multan's commercial fortunes were adversely affected by silting and shifting of the nearby river, which denied traders vital trade access to the Arabian Sea. Multan was a centre for currency minting,

Multan was also host to the offices of many commercial enterprises during the Mughal era, and the city's walls were rebuilt in 1756 by Nawab Ali Mohammad Khan Khakwani, appointing Adina Beg Khan as the Nawab of Punjab who left it in the hands of Salih Muhammad Khan, though the city was recaptured by Durrani in 1760. After repeated invasions following the collapse of the Mughal Empire, Multan was reduced from being one of the world's most important early-modern commercial centres, to a regional trading city.

The city had reverted to Afghan rule under the suzerainty of Nawab Muzaffar Khan in 1778. In 1817, Ranjit Singh sent a body of troops to Multan under the command of Diwan Bhiwani Das to receive from Nawab Muzaffar Khan the tribute he owed to the Sikh Darbar. In 1818, the armies of Kharak Singh and Misr Diwan Chand lay around Multan without making much initial headway, until Ranjit Singh dispatched the massive Zamzama cannon, which quickly led to the disintegration of the Multan's defences. Misr Diwan Chand led Sikh armies to a decisive victory over Muzaffar Khan. Muzzafar Khan and seven of his sons were killed before the Multan fort finally fell on 2 March 1818 in the Battle of Multan.

The conquest of Multan established Ranjit Singh's superiority over the Afghans and ended their influence in this part of the Punjab. Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra was appointed to govern the city, remaining in his post for the following 25 years. Following the death of Ranjit Singh, he ceased paying tribute to a successor and instead maintained alliances of convenience with selected Sikh aristocrats. The two British visitors were in Multan to attend a ceremony for Sardar Kahan Singh, who had been selected by the British East India Company to replace Diwan Mulraj Chopra as ruler of Multan.

Rebellion engulfed the Multan region under the leadership of Mulraj Chopra and Sher Singh Attariwalla. The revolt eventually resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire in 1849.

British Raj

thumb|[[Multan Clock Tower dates from the British colonial period, and was built in the Indo-Saracenic style.]]

By December 1848, the British had captured portions of Multan city's outskirts, and destroyed the Multan Fort while bombarding the city. Thousands of "Canal Towns" and villages were built according to standardized plans throughout the newly irrigated swathes of land.

The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India en masse, while some Muslim refugees from the newly independent Republic of India settled in the city. Today, it is one of the country's six largest urban centres and remains an important settlement in the Southern Punjab.

Multan's climate is primarily influenced by:

Western Disturbances which generally occurs during the winter months between December and February. The Western Disturbance provokes moderate rainfall, with hailstorms also sometimes occurring.
Deforestation, dust storms occur during summer months. The region has seen large scale deforestation in last decades resulting in dust storms. Multan's dust storm sometimes produce violent wind.
Heat waves occur during the hottest months of May and June, and can result in temperatures approaching
South West Monsoon occurs following the hottest months of the year, and lasts between June and September. Monsoon rains moderate temperatures, and can sometimes produce heavy rain storms.
Continental air prevails during the remaining months generally yields clear weather with little to no precipitation. Unlike those cities, Multan has lost its royal citadel, as it was largely destroyed by the British in 1848, which negatively impacted the urban fabric of the city. Multan had a sex ratio of 950 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 74.69%: 77.50% for males and 71.74% for females. 440,112 (24.09%) were under 10 years of age. The figure increased to 2.215 million in the 2023 Pakistani census.

! colspan="2" |1881

! colspan="2" |1891

! colspan="2" |1901

! colspan="2" |1911

! colspan="2" |1921

! colspan="2" |1931

! colspan="2" |1941

! colspan="2" |2017

! colspan="2" |2023

!Population (human biology)|

| Islam 15px

| 24,828

| 36,294

| 39,765

| 46,899

| 55,686

| 55,864

| 72,134

| 81,613

| 1,808,475

| 2,133,906

| Hinduism 15px

| 19,812

| 29,962

| 32,130

| 36,947

| 38,341

| 25,339

| 41,999

| 56,602

| 1,728

| 1,598

| Christianity 15px

| 195

| 1,672

| 1,777

| 2,105

| 1,955

| 1,823

| 680

| 15,766

| 27,236

| Sikhism 15px

| 83

| 661

| 961

| 1,588

| 2,659

| 1,573

| 2,960

| 2,665

| 78

| Jainism 15px

| 46

| 24

| 134

| 388

| 28

| 424

| 499

| Zoroastrianism 15px

| 9

| 49

| 58

| 47

| 117

| 2

| Judaism 15px

| 0

| 6

| 0

| Ahmadiyya 15px

| 928

| 501

| Others

| 684

| 1,711

| 1

| 0

| 929

| 104

| 205

! Total population

! 45,602

! 68,674

! 74,562

! 87,394

! 99,243

! 84,806

! 119,457

! 142,768

! 1,827,001

! 2,163,526

|- class="sortbottom"

| colspan="22" |