Multan is a city in south central Punjab province. It is built just east of the Chenab River. About 966 km from Karachi and more or less right in the center of the country lie the ancient city of Multan. Multan, the 'City of Pirs and Shrines' is a prosperous city of bazaars, mosques, shrines and superbly designed tombs.
A circular road around the rampart gave access to the city through thirteen gates. Some of the imposing structures of these gates are still preserved. In the bazaars of the Old City one still comes across tiny shops where craftsmen can be seen busy turning out master-pieces in copper, brass, silver as well as textiles in the traditional fashion.
The old city has narrow colorful bazaars full of local handicrafts and narrow winding lanes. There are many places of historical, cultural and recreational interest in the city.
Multan is a commercial and industrial center, it is connected by road a rail with Lahore and Karachi and by air with Karachi, Quetta, and Faisalabad. Industries include fertilizer, soap, and glass factories; foundries; cotton, woolen and silk textile mills; flour, sugar and oil mills; and a large thermal-power station. It is famous for its handicrafts (ceramics and camel-skin work) and cottage industries. There are hospitals, public gardens, and several colleges affiliated with the University of the Punjab. The University of Multan was established in 1975. Large, irregular suburbs have grown outside the old walled town, and two satellite towns have been set up. The numerous shrines within the old city offer impressive examples of workmanship and architecture.
The Shams-e Tabriz shrine is built almost entirely of sky-blue engraved glazed bricks. That of Shah Rukn-e Alam (Tughlaq period) has one of the biggest domes in Asia. The shrine of Sheikh Yusuf Gardez is masterpiece of the Multani style. Other shrines include the Pahladpuri Temple and the Idgah Mosque (1735).
Mangoes of Shujabad district are the best in the world. Multani khussa (shoes); embroidered clothes for ladies; embroidered cholas for men; earthenware pottery, painted potter, camel skin ware (e.g. lamps); carpets wooden products, especial lacquered wood.
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Multan was first visited by the Muslim arms during the reign of the Khalifa Abu Bekr, in 44 Hijri (664 A.D.), when Mohalib, the Arab General, afterwards an eminent commander in Persia and Arabia, penetrated to the ancient capital of the Maili. He returned with many prisoners of war. The expedition, however, seems to have been directed towards exploration of the country as no attempt was apparently made to retain the conquest.
The author of 'Jawahar-al-Bahoor' ( the famous Arabic History) writes in his book "that Multan at that time was known as the House of Gold. There was a great Mandir which was also called as the Sun Mandir. It was so big that six thousand resident worshippers were housed therein. Thousands of people from every corner of the country used to visit this place to perfom their Haj (Pilgrimage). They used to circle round it and get their beards and heads shaved off as a mark of respect.
Al-Masudi of Baghdad who visited the valley of the Indus in 303 A.H. (915 A.D.) mentioned about Multan in his book, "The Meadows of Gold", that "Multan is seventy five Sindhian Farsangs from Mansura. It is one of the strongest frontier places of the Musulmans and in its neighbourhood there are a hundred and twenty thousand towns and villages", Al-Masudi also mentioned about the idol and explained as to how people living in the distant parts of country travel to Multan to perform pilgrimage and in fulfilment of their woes and religious obligations, they make offerings of money, precious stones, perfumes of every kind and aloe wood before it. Both tstakhari of Istakhar, or Persepolis, who wrote about the middle of the tenth century 340 A.H. (951 A.D.) and Ibn Haukal of Baghdad who based his work on that of Istakhari, give glowing accounts of Multan which they described as a large, fortif ied and impregnable city, about half the size of Mansura, the ancient Muslim capital of Sind. They also mentioned about the idol of Multan as being held in great veneration by Hindus who flocked to it from all parts of India.
Sultan Sabuktageen, the Afghan King conquered Multan, but after four years, that is, in 980 A.D. it was conquered by a Sardar of the Karamti Tribe who ruled it for some time.
The Administration of Multan suffered due to preoccupation of Delhi Empire in repelling the repeated raids of Mughals from Khurasan and Central Asia. In 1 284 A.D. the Mughals under Taimur Khan, defeated and killed prince Muhammad, known as the Martyr Prince who then ruled Multan. In 1305 A.D. an invasion under Aibak Khan was repelled by the redoubtable warrior Ghazi Beg Tughlak, who is said to have 29 times defeated the invading hordes. In 1 327 A.D. a force under Turmsharin Khan over-ran the distt. and retreated on payment of bribe.
Khan-i-Shahid here and made him responsible for the defence. It was under his patronage that Amir Khusrau and Hasan Dehiavi lived in Multan and composed their poems. Multan, however, continuously suffered from Mongol invasions. In
order to meet these Mongol pressures Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughlaq was appointed as a warden of the Frontier Marches. From Multan he rose to be the Sultan of Delhi - Multan remained under the Tughlaqs until it was conquered by Amir Taimur in 1 397 A.D.
During this long period the prosperity of Muitan grew unabated. It was during this period that the city was adorned by important monuments that established a particular school of Muitani Architecture. The Tombs of Baha-AI-Din Zakariya, Shah Rukn-AI-Din, Rukn-e-Alam and Shamas Sabzwari have given to Multan a unique place in the indo-Muslim Architecture. The presence of these tombs of the saints mentioned above have also added a religious tone to the city.
In 1 397 A.D., came the invasion of Taimur whose troops occupied Uch and Multan, sacked Tiamba, raided the Khokhars of Ravi and passed across Beas to Pakpattan and Delhi.
During the eighty years that Multan was held by Langa Dynasty, it became the principal caravan route between India and Kandhar. Commerce and agriculture flourished. All the lands along the banks of the Chenab and the Ghagra as well as some on the Indus were cultivated and prosperity flourished once again.
whole of Punjab, to his eldest brother, Kamran Mirza. The prince established his court at Lahore and deputed one of his arnirs to take care of Multan.
During the confusion that followed the flight of Humayun to Persia the Kingdom of Multan was captured by Baluchies under their chieftain Fatteh Khan who surrendered it to Hebat Khan, one of the commanders of Sher Shah Suri. Pleased with his services, Sher Shah Suri bestowed the Kigndom of Multan on Hebat Khan.
After consolidating their position at Lahore, the Sikhs marched to the south-west for over two hundred and fifty miles. They crossed the indus and penetrating into the Deras' under their Commanders Sardar Hari Singh Bhangi and his sons, jhanda Singh and Ganda Singh along with Hira Singh, the Sikhs destoryed everything, plundered many villages and killed the people mercilessly, set the houses of the Muslims on fire and demolished many mosques. Ultimately, under the command of jhanda Sing and Ganda Sing, they appeared before Multan on March 9 1764 A.D. (21 Ramazan 11 78 A. H.) looted its suburbs but after collecting millions of rupees they returned.
with great pomp and show. The famous Zamzama Gun was also transported to Multan. Nawab Muzaffar Khan Saddozai who was the Governor of Multan for the past thirty nine years fought courageously but failed to save Multan from the clutches of Sikhs. The death of Muzaffar Khan was in fact the death of the Muslim rule in Multan. After capturing the Fort the Sikh soldiers were let loose to arson and debauchery and Latif recorded as under :
"The city and Fort were now given up to be plundered by the sikh troops. Great were the ravages committed by the sikhs on this occasion. About 400 to 500 houses in the Fort were razed to the ground and their owners deprived of all they had. The precious stones, jewellery, Shawls and other valuables belonging to the
Nawab were confiscated to the state and kept carefully packed by Diwan Ram Diyal for inspection of the Maharaja. In the town many houses were set on fire and nothing was left with the inhabitants that was worth having. Hundreds were killed in city sack, and indeed there was hardly a soul who escaped both loss and violence"
The Sikh rule continued in the Punjab and Multan unchecked but thinking themselves very powerful, the sikhs crossed the Sutlej and entered into the British Territory. They looted some of' the villages also. This happened on December 8, 1845 A.D. The outcome of this adventure was a fierce battle and a disastrous and
ignominious defeat of the Sikh Army. Thereafter a treaty was signed between the British and the Sikhs. Under the new treaty a Council nf Regency was established at Lahore which empowered the British to intervene into many administrative matters. Keeping in view the provisions of the treaty the British Resident introduced several measures in order to regulate the ad 'Ministration throughout the Sikh territories. These measures were to be implemented by Diwan Mul Raj also, who was the Sikh Governor of Multan. The changes were, however, detrimental to the over all interests of the Diwan as they affected his tight control over the traders and businessmen. The other decision of the Resident which brought a blow to Diwan Mui Raj was the introduction of appeals against the decisions of the district officers. such appeals were to be heard by the Lahore Darbar. These measures infuriated the Diwan, as he considered it as an infringement of his rights.
So keeping in view the insulting attitude of the British Diwan Mul Raj first resigned, then changed his mind and agreed to continue for some time. Later his resignation was accepted on March 24, 1848 and Sardar Khan Singh was appointed as the new Diwan of Multan while two British officers, Mr. P. A. Vans Agnew and Lt. W. A. Anderson were appointed to take care of the administration. When these officers reached Multan they were received by Diwan Mul Raj but his advisers forced him to change his mind. In the meanwhile commotion and agitation spread into the city. As such the helpless Diwan became a tool in the hands of the Sikh Army which rebel.led and the two British off icers were mu rdered. The rebelling soldiers gathered around Mul Raj and declared him as their leader.
This open rebellion infuriated the British Government at Lahore and they decided that Multan should be captured and amalgamated into the British Territory. So the British Government collected forces right from Bannu to Bombay on top priority basis in order to capture Multan and by the end of the year Multan was surrounded from all sides. On December 21) 1848 the Bombay Division commanded by Brigadier Dundas also reached Multan. On December 27, one British column launched an attack on the suburbs and the residence of Mul Raj, the "Aam Khas", was bombarded while three other columns were ordered to make diversion to distract the enemy. The irregular forces commenced the diversion at noon and by 4 p.m. the whole line of the suburbs including the tomb of Sawan Mal, the blue Mosque of Shams Sabzwari and the cantonments of the 'Aam Khas' were in possession of the British. The Bombay Native Rifles actually
entered one of the city gates. Meanwhile, a shell from a mortar blew up the magazine located within the fort. containing 5,000 maunds of powder. The explosion destroyed the great Mosque and the lofty dome of Baha-ud-Din Zakariya's Tomb.
On January 2, 1849, breaches in the Khuni Burj and the Dehii Gate were reported, and storming parties advanced and crossed the intervening ditch, but the city wall was found intact with a height of 30 feet, totally impregnable. A most bloody struggle ensued and the English became masters of the town. Again, to
quote Latif: "Terrible had been the carnage during the siege and frightful the effect of the British Ordnance. The battered town of Multan presented the appearance of a vessel wrecked and broken by a tremendous storm which had driven it to an
inhospitable shore. The streets were strewn with slain Sikhs, whose long locks, matted with gore, and beards, blown about by the wind, gave the dead a demoniacal appearance. Not a house or wall had escaped the effects of the English shells. All had been scorched and blackened by the bombardment. Mul Raj retired to the citadel with more than 3,000 picked men, the rest all dispersed and fled. In vain did the Diwan make an endeavour to rally them. They were dispirited, and nothing was left for the garrison but to sally or. surrender. Mul Raj was now reduced to the last extremity. A constant storm of shell had reduced the
interior of the fortress to a wreck. Ail the flour having been blown up in the explosion of the grand mosque, every soldier of the garrison was obliged to grind the wheat for his own food. Mul Raj's chief advisers urgently pressed him to surrender, and he promised either to do this or take poison. He was finally arrested by the British and that was the end of the Sikh rule over Multan as well as the end of loot and plunder which was the main characteristic of the Sikh rule.
As stated above the residents of Multan suffered extensively during this battle. It was another addition to the history of the power game and bloodshed witnessed by the streets of Multan but life returned to normal with the passage of time.
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