Multan

Multan is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the subcontinent, built on a mound raised by millennia of occupation, and it is defined by its Sufi shrines. The tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, completed in the 1320s, is the great one: an octagonal brick mausoleum with a vast dome, tapering buttressed walls and blue and white tilework, standing on the highest point of the old fort mound and visible across the city. Nearby is the shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya, his grandfather in the Suhrawardi order, and the tomb of Shah Shams Sabzwari. The old city below is a maze of narrow lanes, with bazaars selling the blue Multani pottery, camel-skin lamps painted from inside, and khussa shoes. Multan is also mango country, and in June and July the fruit dominates everything. Summers here are among the hottest in the country.

History

Early Harappan sites around Multan date from 3000 to 2800 BCE, and the Greek admiral Skylax passed down the Indus nearby in 515 BCE. Alexander the Great besieged the citadel of the Malli here in 326 BCE and was badly wounded by an arrow; Muhammad bin Qasim took the city in 712 after a two-month siege, and from 855 it was the capital of the Emirate of Multan, which the geographer al-Masudi described in 915 as one of the strongest frontier places of the Muslims (Wikipedia, Multan).

The main sights

• Shah Rukn-e-Alam - the great tiled tomb on the fort mound.
• Bahauddin Zakariya shrine - the older Suhrawardi tomb nearby.
• The old bazaars - blue pottery, camel-skin lamps and khussa shoes.
• The fort mound - the raised ground carrying the shrines and views.

When to go

November to February; Multan in summer regularly exceeds forty-five degrees and sightseeing becomes impossible in the afternoons. Urs festivals at the shrines bring qawwali and enormous crowds, worth timing for or avoiding depending on preference. Mango season is June and July.

Practical notes

The heat is the defining constraint outside winter. The old city is congested and hard to navigate, with limited signage. Shrines expect modest dress and shoes off, and women's access varies by shrine. Photography at shrines requires sensitivity, particularly during rituals.

Nearby

Uch Sharif lies southwest; Bahawalpur and the Cholistan forts are south.

Key facts