The Story of an Ancient City

South Punjab, which consists of three divisions and eleven districts, is about 45% of Punjab in terms of area and about 32% of the total population of Punjab in terms of population.  The Seraiki nationalists, in defiance of their legitimate demands, spread the boundaries of South Punjab and covered 24 districts and two provinces.  The demand also included two districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dera Ismail Khan and Tank, while Mianwali, Bhakkar, Khushab, Sargodha, Chiniot, Jhang, Bhakkar, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Okara and Toba Tek Singh were also included in the proposed province.  Took  Obviously, the province will not be formed at the behest of the Seraiki nationalists.  Who would have thought that it would not be possible to close the two districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the sack of their desire unless the Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa approves it and such a thing is not possible till the Day of Judgment.  As for Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Okara, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Chiniot, Jhang and Khushab, etc., they do not even recognize themselves as Seraiki.  Now no one can be made a seraiki by pushing in view of his desire.  The same was the case with Mianwali and Bhakkar.  The wise Seraikis are mentally and logically satisfied that the province of South Punjab consisting of Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions is the only valid geographical demand which is both workable and acceptable.

 Multan is also the oldest and oldest province in the region and has been somewhat independent.  How far back would it be to examine the testimony of its provincial status?  If you look at the history of BC, Multan was the cultural center and capital of the region in terms of its identity and identity.  When Alexander invaded Multan in 326 BC, he encountered unforgettable resistance.  During the same battle, he was shot and the news of Alexander's death spread.  In order to alleviate the disillusionment and frustration in the army, Alexander barely got on his boat in the river on horseback to show his army.  Multan was still the largest and strongest stronghold of the region. In fact, I have hastily started the history of Multan from 326 BC, while the battle of Multan Mahabharata, which took place about 3000 BC.  Was also present at the time of 'was fought' and in the battle of Koro Pando, the Koros belonged to the same area and Drew Dhan was from Multan.  Multan is a contemporary city of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.  Its provincial status is very old and stable.

 At the time of the Battle of Kurukshetra, Multan was a province in the Trigarta kingdom under the Katuch dynasty.  Multan was a province during the Buddhist period.  Multan was a province during the reign of Alexander the Great.  At the time of Muhammad bin Qasim's invasion, Multan was a province with a distinct identity and was appointed subedar by Chach, the ruler of Aror.  In the 10th century AD, Multan came under the control of Qaramatians.  The Qaramatis, in fact, belonged to the Fatimid rulers of the Ismaili sect in Egypt who fled from Egypt and Iraq after the defeat of the Abbasids and came to Multan and occupied it.  Multan remained an independent state during the Qaramatian period.  In 1005, Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated the Qaramati ruler Abdul Fateh Daud and conquered Multan.  Taken  Multan was still a province.  Later, the Mamluk rulers of Delhi snatched Multan from Ghauri and declared it as a province of the Sultanate of Delhi.  Multan was still a province when the Mongols invaded Multan.  Multan was also a province of the Delhi Sultanate during the reign of the ninth Mamluk ruler Ghias-ud-Din Balban. In 1320, Ghias-ud-Din Tughlaq conquered Multan and retained its provincial status.  In 1398, when Timur's grandson Pir Muhammad conquered Multan, he retained his status and appointed Khidr Khan as its governor.  Later, Khidr Khan invaded Delhi with the help of Timur and snatched the throne of Delhi from Daulat Khan Lodhi and started the rule of Syed dynasty which lasted for a very short time.

 Thereafter, Multan continued to assert itself in the region as an independent state under the rule of Badhan Khan alias Mahmood Shah of the Lingah dynasty.  The ruler of Multan from 1469 to 1498 was Shah Hussain, the grandson of Mahmood Shah.  This was the golden age of Multan.  During this period, Multan achieved prosperity and development. At the same time, Shah Hussain repulsed the attacks of Tatar Khan and Barbak Shah, the rulers of Delhi.  In 1525, the reign of Lingah rulers came to an end.  In the meantime Multan remained under the control of the Mongol Turks.  In 1541, Multan was captured by Sher Shah Suri.

 In 1627, Murad Bakhsh, son of Shah Jahan, on the return of the expedition to Balkh, ordered the re-wall around Multan.  King Aurangzeb Alamgir of India was the governor of Multan province till 1652.  During the Mughal period, Multan was the cradle of perfect peace and tranquility for 200 years. In 1739, Multan was captured by Ahmad Shah Durrani.  This work was done by the Governor of Multan Ali Muhammad Khan.  In 1758, Multan was invaded and captured by Raghunath Rao.  In 1772, when the Sikhs snatched Multan from Ahmad Shah Durrani's son Timur Shah, Multan retained its status as a province. In 1778, Nawab Muzaffar Khan recaptured Multan and made it a province of the Kabul Empire  However, this was merely symbolic, otherwise Multan would have been completely independent.

 In 1818, Ranjit Singh captured Multan.  Dewan Sawan Mill was appointed Governor of Multan.  Sawan Mill Chopra remained the Governor of Multan for the next 25 years.  After the assassination of Sawan Mill in 1844, his son Dewan Mulraj became the governor of Multan. In 1849, Multan was captured by the British and placed under the throne of Lahore.  This was the end of Multan province.  An ancient and glorious city of the past that remained the provincial capital for centuries became a suburb of Lahore.

 The annexation of Multan to the Punjab and its abolition of its provincial status was an administrative decision of the British which all the rulers sitting in Lahore do not change now just because the area under their rule will disappear.  The time has come to redress this injustice that was done 142 years ago in 1849 and to restore the centuries old province.