Pakistan – Multan

Multan

Multan is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the capital of the Multan District. Called the “City of the Saints”, the history of the city goes back more than 5,000 years

History

Early histor

Ancient name of Multan was Kashep Puri. The town was built by Raja Kashep. After Hurnakas his son Parhilaad succeeded the throne and the town was then named after him as Parhilaad Puri. The current name Multan was given due to Mali people who were defeated by Alexander the Great.”Once Keshap Puri (Multan) was capital of the Raja Hurnakas where Persian Kings had built temple of sun in which idol of sun was laid. After the conquest of Multan one Brahman had poined out Muhammad bin Qasim about treasure hidden beneath the fountain which was burried by Raja Jesubin. Muhammad bin Qasim found 330 chests of treasure containing 13300 maunds gold. Entire treasure was shifted from Debal to Basra on ships. After Islamic conquest, Arab rulers got handsome income from temple of the sun. Whenever any Hindu Raja intended to conquer Multan the Arab rulers would threaten to destroy the temple. Buzrag bin Shahryar wrote the name of temple as Aadith (sun). Al Beruni also wrote same name”

Multan was ruled by the various native empires before the invasion of Alexander the Great. It is said that when Alexander was fighting for the city, a poisoned arrow struck him, making him ill and eventually leading to his death. The exact place where Alexander was hit by the arrow can be seen in the old city premises. It is believed to be the same city as “Maii-us-than”, where Alexander’s forces stormed the citadel after seeing their king injured and unconscious on the field of battle. Multan was part of the Mauryan and the Gupta empires that ruled much of northern India. In the mid-5th century, the city was attacked by a group of nomads led by Toramana. These nomads were successful in taking the city, but did not stay, and the long-standing Hindu rule over the city was re-established. The noted Chinese traveller Huen Tsang visited Multan in 641.

During the early period, Multan was known as the city of gold for its large and wealthy temples. The Sun temple, Suraj Mandir, was considered one of the largest and wealthiest temples in the entire sub-continent. Numerous historians have written about this extremely large Hindu temple that housed over 6,000 people within it. Other famous sites included the Suraj Kund (“pool of the Sun”) and Temple of Prahladapuri. Story of Prahlada from whom the temple took its name.[citation needed]

 

According to native legends and mythology, Multan was the capital of ancient Trigarta Kingdom at the time of Mahabharta and ruled by Katoch Clan of Kshatriya Rajputs. Prahlada was the son of King Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu held sway over this country and condemned the gods and forbade the paying of homage in their name. Prahlada was recognized as being a very devoted follower of Vishnu, much to his father’s disappointment. As Prahlada grows in age, his father Hiranyakashipu becomes upset at his devotion to Vishnu, who he sees as his mortal enemy. Eventually his anger leads him to attempt to kill the boy Prahlada in many ways, but each time Prahlada is protected by Vishnu’s mystical power. Finally in disgust Hiranyakashipu points to a particular pillar and asks if his Vishnu is in it? Prahlada answers “He is”. Hiranyakashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar with his mace, it burst in two and out sprang the god Vishnu in the form of a man-lion form called Narasimha Avatar who laid the King across his knees and ripped his stomach open with his claws. A temple devoted to Narasimha Avatar of Vishnu is built. The temple of Prahladpuri Temple is situated close to the shrine of Bahawal Huk. Currently its roof and surrounding building have been damaged but the pillar is no more. The Idol was shifted from temple to a new place near old fruit market. Now it has been relocated at Haridwar, where it was brought in 1947 by Narayan Das Baba.

Early Muslim era

In the 7th century, Multan had its first arrival of the Muslim armies. Armies led by Al Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah launched numerous raids from Persia into India in 664 for inclusion of the area into their empires.[non-primary source needed]

“In the same year Abdool Ruhman Bin Shimur, another Arab Ameer of distinction, marched from Merv to Kabul, where he made converts of upwards of twelve thousand persons. At the same time, also Mohalib Bin Aby-Suffra, proceeding with a detachment from thence, in the direction of India, penetrated as far as Multan: when having plundered the country, he returned to the headquarters of the army at Khorassan, bringing with him many prisoners, who were compelled to become converts to the faith.     ”

However, only a few decades later, Muhammad bin Qasim would come on behalf of the Arabs, and take Multan along with Sindh. His conquest was accompanied by much plundering[non-primary source needed]:

“He then crossed the Biyas, and went towards Multan. Muhammad Bin Qasim destroyed the water-course; upon which the inhabitants, oppressed with thirst, surrendered at discretion. He massacred the men capable of bearing arms, but the children were taken captive, as well as ministers of the temple, to the number of 6,000. The Muslims found there much gold in a chamber ten cubits long by eight broad.         ”

Following bin Qasim’s conquest, the city was securely under Muslim rule, although it was in effect an independent state, but around the start of the 11th century, the city was attacked twice by Mahmud of Ghazni who destroyed the Sun Temple and broke its giant Idol. A graphic detail is available in Al-Biruni’s writings:

“A famous idol of theirs was that of Multan, dedicated to the sun, and therefore called Aditya. It was of wood and covered with red Cordovan leather; in its two eyes were two red rubies. It is said to have been made in the last Kritayuga. When Muhammad Ibn Alkasim Ibn Almunaibh conquered Multan, he inquired how the town had become so very flourishing and so many treasures had there been accumulated, and then he found out that this idol was the cause, for there came pilgrims from all sides to visit it. Therefore, he thought it best to have the idol where it was, but he hung a piece of cow’s flesh on its neck by way of mockery. On the same place a mosque was built. When the Karmatians occupied Multan, Jalam Ibn Shaiban, the usurper, broke the idol into pieces and killed its priests.        ”

During this era, the Multan Sun Temple was noted by the 10th-century Arab geographer Al-Muqaddasi to have been located in a most populous part of the city,between the city’s ivory and coppersmith bazaars.The Hindu temple was noted to have accrued the Muslim rulers large tax revenues,by some accounts up to 30% of the state’s revenues.

Mughal era

The Mughals controlled the Punjabi region from 1524 until around 1739. Padshah (emperor) Akbar established at Multan one of his original twelve subahs (imperial top-level provinces) roughly covering Punjab, bordering Kabul, Lahore, (Old) Delhi, Ajmer, Thatta (Sindh) subahs, the Persian Safavid empire[citation needed] and shortly Qandahar subah.

Under the Mughal Empire, Multan enjoyed over 200 years of peace, and became known as Dar al-Aman (Abode of Peace). The Khakwani Nawabs of Multan gave it a lot of financial stability and growth to the local farming sector. It was at this time that Multan was ruled by Nawab Ali Mohammad Khan Khakwani. As governor of Multan, he built the famous Mosque Ali Mohammad Khan in 1757 which remains to this day. Many buildings were constructed in this time, and agricultural production grew rapidly. The Khakwani Nawabs of Multan at this time were paying homage to the Afghan king but due to lack of power in Delhi and Kabul they had free rein and were the de facto absolute rulers of Multan. Multan at that time included areas which are part of Vehari, Bahawalpur, and Dera Ghazi Khan districts. The city escaped the destruction brought upon India by the armies of Nadir Shah. Afterwards it was ruled from Kabul by numerous Afghan dynasties for a while. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Multan region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Maratha and Sikh invaded and occupied Multan.

Maratha Empire

Main article: Maratha conquest of North-west India

In 1758, the Maratha Empire’s general Raghunathrao marched onwards, conquered Lahore and Attock and defeated Timur Shah Durrani, the son and viceroy of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Lahore, Multan, Kashmir and other subahs on the eastern side of Attock were under the Maratha rule for the most part. In Punjab and Kashmir, the Marathas plundered the prosperous Mughal cities.Maratha general Bapuji Trimbak was given the charge of guarding Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan from Afghans. Maratha rule in Multan was short-lived as Durrani re-captured the city in November 1759.

Sikh era

After Ahmad Shah Durrani’s dynasty went into decline, it was ruled locally by the Pashtun Khakwani and Sadduzai chieftains. The Sadozais having gained the favour of the king and having the Khakwani Nawab removed. This period saw the rise of Sikh power, who attacked Multan, killeing the Sadozai Nawab, took over the city. The Khakwanis had moved out of the city at that time and lived in small walled cities around main Multan.

The Khokhars and Khatri Muslims occupied Multan intermittently between 1756 and 1763 displacing replacing ruling Sadozai member by Khakwani nawab or his brother, son or even son-in-law, this was most turbulent period in history of Multan resulting administration getting paralyzed and inviting attack from misl from Gujranwal. Jhanda Singh and Ganda Singh attacked again in 1764. However,

attempts to take the Multan fort failed and they retreated after collecting several million rupees loot from the ruler Muzaffar Khan Saddozai.

The front view of an old colonial building built during the rule of the British Raj.

In the 19th century, the Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh with his capital at Lahore occupied Multan. Sikh armies under General Hari Singh Nalwa defeated the ruler of Multan, Muzaffar Khan Saddozai. The death of Muzaffar Khan was in fact the death of Muslim rule in Multan.

British era

Siege of Multan

The Siege of Multan began on 19 April 1848 when local Sikhs murdered two emissaries of the British Raj who were present at the reception of the new governor of Multan who had been selected by the British East India Company.Rebellion engulfed the Multan region under the leadership of Diwan Mulraj Chopra.The British soon launched expeditions against Mulraj, capturing the nearby town of Dera Ghazi Khan.The British then defeated Mulraj’s forces at a settlement 4 miles from Multan on 1 July 1848, and captured most guns belonging to Mulraj’s army. General William S. Whish was ordered in July 1848 to take 7,000 men with him into order to capture Multan, where Mulraj had been encircled. Much of the force was Sikhs, who in October 1848 defected to Mulraj’s forces, forcing General Whish to abandon his first attempt to conquer Multan.By December 1848, the British had captured portions of Multan city’s outskirts. In January 1849, the British had amassed a force of 12,000 to conquer Multan.On 22 January 1849, the British had breached the walls of the Multan Fort, leading to the surrender of Mulraj and his forces to the British.

After a long and bloody battle, Multan was made part of the British Raj. During this time, Sardar Karan Narain’s son became an icon during the British Raj and was awarded titles ‘Rai Bahadur’ and Knighted ‘Sir’ by Her Majesty. The British built some rail routes to the city, but its industrial capacity was never fully developed.

Post-independence

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 while the Muslim refugees from India settled in the Multan. It initially lacked industry, hospitals and universities. Since then, there has been some industrial growth, and the city’s population is continually growing. Today, it is one of the country’s largest urban centres and remains an important settlement in the Southern Punjab.