Geographically the present work is limited to southern part of the Punjab as it is a regional history of Multan. Historically it covers the whole period of Mughals till its fall to Afghan‚€™s hand. The object of the present work is to dig out the history of Multan during the Mughals in a systematic way. As it is a regional history, my intention here is to evaluate its role which Multan played during different expeditions and specially during the Qandahar expeditions because Qandahar was a matter of prestige for both the dynasties and Multan received due importance because for both the dynasties and Multan received due importance because of its direct link with Qandahar. The same way Multan was not only a big cantonment but it was one of the largest agricultural provinces of the Mughal empire.
The work is divided into two parts. First part is divided into three sections: a. Introductory history of Multan. It covers briefly the origin of Multan and its history through the ages while the section. b. deals with the history of Multan under the salatins and the Ancestral history of Mughals. Section C is entirely fixed for the political history of the thesis and it throws light on the political condition of Multan. The second part is again divided into three sections. Section a. deals with the administrative structure of Mughal Empire in Multan. The provincial administration of Multan was miniature of the central structure of Mughal Empire. The scope of this chapter is not limited to the description of the power and functions assigned to different officers but the internal working of each department has been described and substantiated by the historical facts of the period. A revenue and judicial system of Mughals in Multan is also described briefly. Sections b. throws light on the cultural and literary history of Multan and the role of religion in the society. In this section the role of religion and its impact on society has been described. Section c. deals with the socio-economic aspects of the society of Multan under the Mughals.
The final chapter of the work summarized the conclusions. Multan remained an important region throughout the centuries due to its geographical situation. It was its location which made it a target of attacks for different dynasties and it became a part of Ummayids, Abbasids, Ghorids and Ghaznavids at different times but ultimately it became a part of the Delhi under the sultans and the Mughals. Being situated in the northwest frontier territory its routes and links with Central Asia provided an opportunity to the invaders to launch a series of attacks on its territory. This is born out by the fact that throughout the 13the century the first point of attach for an invading army from beyond the Sulaiman range was Multan or Uch and not Lahore and Peshawer. The Mongol threat was a powerful deterrent to any action likely to weaken for frontier defenses. This province remained the frontier for the whole sultanate period.
It should however be noted that the Sultanate was the root and the Mughal Empire the fruit of Muslim initiative and statesmanship in India. The Sultanate period was decidedly one of experiment, and as such was one of great difficulty. The Mughal emperors had three hundred years of Muslim rule behind them, with all its experiments, failures and success and were able to profit from the lessons of the past. The Mughals built, it is obvious, upon the foundations which others had laid. The Hindu civilization was gradually changed. In the towns and to a lesser extent in the country-side further foundations had been laid by new comers from the wider Islamic world, by their attendant, officials and professional men, by immigrant artisans and by the sufi orders. Upon these foundations, the Mughals built a structure distinctively their own. They spread political unity, the comparative order and stability all over the India (North). Akbar established military outposts and strengthened the forts lying on the military and trade routes to Kabul. They served two purposes. One was to keep the tribes residing in that area peaceful, the other was to increase the defensive strength of the north west. The only route which was neglected and was not strengthened was that of Qandahar. This may have been due to the barrenness of Baluchistan and innumerable difficulties in keeping the supply line intact. This negligence however proved a weak link in the defence of the empire. It was due to this weakness that Qandahar changed hands so many times and was lost for ever by the Mughals during Shah Jahan‚€™s reign. Multan became a second defence line for the Mughal Empire.
Qandahar was a bone of contention between the Safavieds and the Mughals and each of them was very much possessive in the case of Qandahar. Multan as such played a vital role on account of its strategic situation and being a big military head-quarter. The Governor of Multan was bound to help the Governor of Qandahar in case of Persian invasion. Multan being aqriculturally sound was also supposed to provide food grain to the expedition.
Multan being centre of this part of Indian territory played an important role in the political and cultural activities of the Punjab and Sind. Its centuries old strong links with Sind provided an opportunity under the Mughals to strong links with Sind provided an opportunity under the Mughals to strengthen its kprevious bonds. Their political and social activities were interlinked and the rulers of the territories of Sind acted as the subordinate officers of the viceroy of Multan. Multan always welcomed the people of Sind and Baluchistan. It is evident from the historical record that people belonging to different tribes of Baluchistan and sind migrated from their ancestral lands to the territory of Multan. Prominent of them succeeded in playing a leading role in the politics of Multan. Their importance was also felt by the ruling authority and they were always duly honoured.
After the death of Aurangzeb, the decline of the Mughal Empire started. The prince struggled for power which ultimately weakened their position in the eyes of their mansabdars. These mansabdars having realized the weakness of the prices became independent. The rapid decline of the Mughal Empire provided an opportunity to Ahmad Shah Abdali who invaded India and annexed Multan in 1752. Multan then became an Afghan province.
Multan has always been famous for its rich agricultural produce. Its grain was transported to different parts of India. Being a centre of trade and commerce its traders were rich and were respected every where. At the time of need, they supplied foodgrain as well as other goods under the instructions of the Mughal officers. The revenue from Multan was very attractive and several measures were taken for the betterment of the agriculturists. Akbar‚€™s agrarian reforms envisaged a maximization of agricultural products laying special stress on the extension of land under cultivation and improvement in the quality of crops sown. This orientation of the agricultural economy of Akbar was again a legacy of the Sultans.
Multan being a centre of religious activities since the Hindu period, always produced men of talent. After the advent of Islam it become a centre of Muslim religious activities. Hadrat Baha-al-Din Zakariya played a vital role in aducating the people and spreading Islam. After him, his descendants continued his mission and Multan retained its central position for the ‚€˜Suhrawardi Silsila‚€™. The saints and ‚€˜ulama engaged themselves in the service of the society and religion. Many of them taught children the Holy Quran and propagated the Islamic concept, the unity of God in a selfless, humble and devoted manner. They were really the guardians of learning and considered its diffusion among people, belonging to different sections of the society as an act of divine worship. The doors of their Madrasa‚€™s and Khanqahs remained opened to all; the sons of wealthy and poor people sat together for the acquisition of knowledge. Thus these scholars and Sufis took keen interest in the character building of the people of Multan. Multan also maintained its legacy in literary field as it was the first literary centre of the Muslims in India in the early Muslim period.
Under the strong centralized government of the great Mughals, Multan at last enjoyed a long period of peace, which was confirmed in the documents and the coins minted here high lighted the standing title of Dar-al-Aman. It may be said that for two hundred years, i.e. 1548 to 1748, there was no warfare in this part of the Punjab and the people improved their standard of living.
Thus to sum up, Multan being a metropolitan city during the period of political stability reflected the highest level of economic, educational, cultural and social development of 16th-18th century Hindustan. It had in the course of time developed identity, population, character and resources of her own.