Multan

About Multan

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 continuosly inhabited cities in Asia, with a history stretching deep into antiquity.

Multan was part of the Achaemenid Empire in the early 6th century BCE. The ancient town 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, formed after reforms of Akbar in 1580, was one of the largest provinces of the Mughal Empire. The Sikh Empire ruled over Multan from 1818 till 1849 when it was captured by the British after a lengthy siege.

The city was among the most important trading centres of South Asia with strong ties to Iran, Central Asia and the rest of Persianate and Muslim world. A great centre of knowledge and learning during the medieval period, Multan attracted a multitude of Sufi mystics in the 11th and 12th centuries, earning the city the sobriquet "City of Saints." Multan, along with the nearby city of Uch, is known for its large number of Sufi shrines dating from that era.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.