Growing Cultural Colours Of Multan With Magnificient History

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th May, 2018 ) :An APP Feature (With Photos) By Iftikhar Ahmad Multan is home to a colourful culture, a dynamic youth talent pool and carries the marks of civilizational evolution over the last five to six thousand years of its continuous habitation.

History pages reveal the city now known as the city of saints, cotton and delicious mangoes, had, at times, enjoyed the status of kingdom, province and remained an important route for cross-country business and trade activity.

Life always thrived on the banks of rivers, and, Multan was no exception with Ravi as its main stay, which, over time, changed its course leaving Chenab to take over. Noted historian, a senior journalist and an expert on Multan, Hanif Chaudhry, disclosed that Multan remained located on a sea shore around 20,000 years ago.

He cited reference from a book of a western researcher, Mr. Stanley, on Oceanography. Hanif Chaudhry says survival of Multan for so many centuries lies in the fact that its relation with rivers remained in tact during this long journey of history.

Cotton cultivation and weaving fabric from the lint was an ancient practice though people also used to rear cattle and grew food crops. The people from other countries also brought with them their culture and art and their hold left indelible mark on the culture of this area.

This land supported art, poetry, singing and craftsmanship which encompasses bows Kaman for archers, baked clay vessels with floral and geometrical designs and camel skin lamps of Multan decorated with 'Naqqashi' are famous all over the world.

The earliest history of Multan faded away in mists of mystery and mythology, however, most of the historians agree that Multan, beyond any doubt, was conquered by Alexander in 200-BC after facing mighty resistance.

He was fatally wounded, never recovered, and died on his way back at Babylon, says a brief compilation of Multan history by officials of Punjab archaeology department. A Chinese historian Hiuen Tsang who visited Multan in 641 AD described the circuit of the thickly populated city about five miles where soil was rich and fertile and eight Deva temples stood tall with grand temple dedicated to the Sun looked magnificent.

Muhammad Bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in 712 AD defeating Hindu army. 'Jawahar-al-Bahoor', a famous Arabic History, says, Multan then was known as the "House of Gold". Ibn-e-Khurdaba, in his book "The Book of Roads and Kingdoms" said that Arabs called Multan as the House of Gold while Al-Masudi of Baghdad described it as Meadows of Gold.

Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi attacked Multan twice, the second time in 1010 AD.

Sultan Shahabuddin conquered it in 1100-1200 AD and appointed Ali Karmani as Governor of Multan and Uch. Mongols had also attacked Multan including Changez Khan in 1218 AD.

There were, however, two periods when Multan was practically a separate Kingdom independent of Delhi, sometime in 1400-1500 AD under Langah dynasty and then by Haibat Khan, a commander of Sher Shah Suri.

Suri had bestowed the kingdom of Multan on Haibat Khan. During the 80 years of Langah dynasty, Multan became the principle caravan route between Qandahar to Delhi and agriculture flourished once again.

After emperor Babar's death, Humayun recaptured the Indian throne in 1555 AD. A Royal mint for silver and copper coins was established at Multan along with the mint of Delhi, Agra and few other places.

It is stated that renowned poets Amir Khusro and Hassan Dehelvi composed their poems in Multan when its defence responsibility was assigned by Balban to his eldest son Muhammad Khan-i-Shahid. During reign of Ghyasuddin Tughlaq, Multan witnessed prosperity and the city was adorned with monuments including mausoleum of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya Multani, Hazrat Shah Rukn- e-Alam and Hazrat Shah Shams Sabzwari.

Under the Mughal emperors, Multan enjoyed peace for two centuries from 1548 to 1748 during which cultivation increased and commerce flourished. Multan had escaped immediate threat after the fall of Mughal empire owing to the change of route of invaders from Afghanistan to India.

Multan finally was part of Pakistan in 1947 with a population of nearly 100,000. After 70 years since independence, Multan is now a division and an important most city of South Punjab with a variety of industries operational including textiles.

City population is over 1.8 million. Its agriculture flourishing and trade and business sound resonant. It has now three universities, many colleges, a tertiary health care facility besides many other hospitals, a series of colleges and schools, two railway stations, an international airport, glowing shopping malls, an operational industrial estate and much more.

Multan is again poised to be a part of a cross-country route after Multan-Sukkur motorway was declared a part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar project aimed at connecting Pakistan with the Central Asian Republics and other countries and being dubbed as a game changer.

Multan would, many hope, move to prosperity like rest of Pakistan once the CPEC becomes operational. APP/ifi/smr (APP Feature Service)