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. ===
Arab Sindh (711-815AD)=== However, only a few decades later,
Muhammad bin Qasim would come on behalf of the Arabs, and take Multan region along with
Sindh. His conquest was accompanied by much plundering. Umayyads inhabited
Arabs in Multan who then ruled large parts of Punjab and also included Kashmir. The descendents of these Arabs are still found in various parts of Pakistan and India. Islam strengthened in the region reaching towards emerging cities of Delhi and Lahore. , a province of the
Abbasid Caliphate, circa 800 CE.
After Islamic Conquest After the conquest of Multan one had pointed out
Muhammad bin Qasim about treasure hidden beneath the fountain which was buried by Raja Jesubin. Muhammad bin Qasim found 330 chests of treasure containing 13,300
Maunds gold. Entire treasure was shifted from
Debal to
Basra on ships. Al Beruni also visited the city during Mahmud Ghaznavi's rule". 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:
Abbasid Amirate (855-959 AD) and the
Multan Emirate, which replaced the Caliphal province of Sind circa 854 CE. By the mid-800s, the
Banu Munabbih (also known as the
Banu Sama), who claimed descent from the
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, The 10th century Persian geographer
Estakhri noted that the city of Multan was approximately half the size of Sindh's capital
Mansura, but the region of Multan was widespread, Mansura along with Multan were the only two Arab principalities in South Asia.
Arabic was spoken in both cities,
Ismaili Emirate of Multan (959-1010 AD) By the mid 10th century, Multan had come under the influence of the
Qarmatians. 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. They wrested control of the city from the pro-Abbasid Amirate of Banu Munabbih, and established the
Emirate of Multan, thereby ruling large parts of Punjab and Kashmir including within its limits modern day capital of Pakistan
Islamabad, and pledged allegiance to the Fatimid Dynasty based in Cairo. Jalam
bin Shayban, a proselytizing ''
Da'i'' that had been dispatched to the region by the Fatimid Caliph
Imam al-Mu'izz, was dispatched to replace the city's previous ''Da'i'' who had been accused of promoting a syncretic version of Islam that incorporated Hindu rites
Ghaznavid Conquest Soon after, Multan was attacked by the
Ghaznavids, destabilizing the Ismaili state.
Mahmud of Ghazna invaded Multan in 1005, conducting a series of campaigns. The city was surrendered, and Abdul Fateh Daud was permitted to retain control over the city with some conditions. Mahmud appointed a Hindu-convert, Nawasa Khan, to rule the region in Mahmud's absentia. After being granted power, Niwasa Khan renounced Islam, and attempted to secure control of the region in collusion with Abdul Fateh Daud. ===Conquest of
Muhammad Ghori=== Like his predecessor,
Mahmud of Ghazni,
Muhammad of Ghor first took, in 1178, the Ismaili Multan sultans in northern Sindh, which had regained independence from Ghaznavid rule. Muhammad Ghori as a part of his campaigns to conquer north India, again massacred them. After
Sultan Muhammad Ghori's victories in India, and his establishment of a capital in
Delhi, Multan was made a part of his empire. However, the rise of the
Mongols would again give it some independence, albeit requiring it to be vigilant against Mongol raids from Central Asia. The Qarmatians came to Multan in the 10th century and were expelled in 1175 by
Sultan Muhammad Ghori that dates from the 1150s and is covered in blue enameled tiles typical of Multan. dates from 1330, and has a unique green dome. dating from the 1580s was built in the regional style that is typical of Multan's shrines.
Independent kingdom (1203–1228) Following the death of Sultan Muhammad Ghauri, Multan came under the rule of
Nasiruddin Qabacha, who in 1222, successfully repulsed an attempted invasion by Sultan
Jalal al-Din Mangburni of the
Khwarazmian Empire, Following Qabacha's death that same year, the
Turkic king
Iltutmish, the third Sultan of the Mamluk dynasty, captured and then annexed Multan in an expedition. while the Mongols tried to capture the city in 1241 after capturing Lahore. Nasir Ud din Qabacha gathered a large army from Uch, Multan and Sindh and the Mongols were repulsed.
Alauddin Khalji of Delhi dispatched his brother
Ulugh Khan in
1296 to conquer Multan in order to eliminate surviving family members of his predecessor.
Tughluq is considered to be the earliest Tughluq-era monument. 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. or of Turkic or
Turco-Mongol extraction.
Suri 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. 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, and were found throughout Central Asia up until the 19th century. ==Early Modern Era==