[13] These texts also assert that Multan was the capital of the Trigarta Kingdom ruled by the Katoch dynasty during the Kurukshetra War that is central to the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata.

[32] During this era, the Multan Sun Temple was noted by the 10th century Arab geographer Al-Muqaddasi to have been located in a most populous part of the city.

[30] The 10th century Arab historian Al-Masudi noted Multan as the city where Central Asian caravans from Islamic Khorasan would assemble.

Al Masudi of Baghdad who visited Indus valley in 915 A.D mentioned in his book "Meadows of Gold" that it is one of the strongest frontier places of Muslims and in its neighbourhood there are a hundred and twenty thousand towns and villages".

Qarmatians zealots had famously sacked Mecca,[39] 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.

[40] The governor of Jhang, Umar bin Hafas, was a clandestine supporter of the Fatimid movement and the Batiniya influence spread in Southern Punjab.

[41] They wrested control of the city from the pro-Abbasid Amirate of Banu Munabbih,[42] and established the Emirate of Multan, while pledging allegiance to the Ismaili Fatimid Dynasty based in Cairo.

[35][36] During this period, Uch and Multan remained a central pilgrimage site for Vaishnavite and Surya devotees, and their admixture with Isma’īlīsm created the Satpanth tradition.

[33] Following the Ghaznavid invasion of Multan, the local Ismaili community split, with one faction aligning themselves with the Druze religion,[33] which today survives in Lebanon, Syria, and the Golan Heights.

[47] In the early 12th century, Multani poet Abdul Rahman penned the Sandesh Rasak,[30] the only known Muslim work in the medieval Apabhraṃśa language.

[48] In 1175, Muhammad Ghori conquered Ismaili-ruled Multan,[37][49] after having invaded the region via the Gomal Pass from Afghanistan into Punjab, and used the city as a springboard for his unsuccessful campaign into Gujarat in 1178.

[49] Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji dispatched his brother Ulugh Khan in 1296 to conquer Multan region which was governed by surviving family members of his predecessor.

(Sultan Jalal-ud-din Khalji) After usurping the throne of Delhi, Alauddin decided to eliminate the surviving family members of Jalaluddin, who were present in Multan.

[52] Amir Khusrau, the famous Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar visited Multan on the invitation of Khan Muhammad.

He wrote in the jamia Masjid of Multan that he had fought 28 battles against Mongols and had survived, people gave him the title Ghazi ul Mulk.

[32] The Sultanate's borders stretched encompassed the neighbouring regions surrounding the cities of Chiniot and Shorkot, including present day Faisalabad.

[32] Multan's Langah Sultanate came to an end in 1525 when the city was invaded by rulers of the Arghun dynasty,[32] who were either ethnic Mongols,[61] or of Turkic or Turco-Mongol extraction.

[62] In 1541, the Pashtun king Sher Shah Suri captured Multan, and successfully defended the city from the advances of the Mughal Emperor Humayun.

[63] Sher Shah Suri also built (or renovated) Delhi-Multan road, the ancient trade route had existed since the time of King Ashoka or earlier.

To improve transit in the areas between Delhi and Multan, leading to Kandahar and Herat in Afghanistan, eventually to Mashhad capital of Khorasan province of Iran.

[68] In the second half of the 17th century, Multan's commercial fortunes were adversely affected by silting and shifting of the nearby river, which denied traders vital trade access to the Arabian Sea.

In 1758, the Marathas under Raghunathrao briefly seized Multan,[72][73] appointing Adina Beg Khan as the Nawab of Punjab, though the city was recaptured by Durrani in 1760.

After repeated invasions following the collapse of the Mughal Empire, Multan was reduced from being one of the world's most important early-modern commercial centres, to a regional trading city.

[75] In 1817, Ranjit Singh sent a body of troops to Multan under the command of Diwan Bhiwani Das to receive from Nawab Muzaffar Khan the tribute he owed to the Sikh Darbar.

[81] The Multan Revolt triggered the start of the Second Anglo-Sikh War,[82] during which the sajjada nashin of the Shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya sided with the British to help defeat the Sikh rebels.

[85] A distinct Multani style of architecture began taking root in the 14th century with the establishment of funerary monuments,[85] and is characterized by large brick walls reinforced by wooden anchors, with inward sloping roofs.

The area under Multan Development Authority (MDA) is 560 square kilometres, covering almost all important establishments like Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Pak Arab Fertilizers Industrial Estate, and others.

The Main Line-1 Railway that links Karachi and Peshawar passes through Multan district is being overhauled as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Other universities in the city include: The Prahladpuri Temple is located on top of a raised platform inside the Fort of Multan, adjacent to tomb of Hazrat Baha’ul Haq Zakariya.

Multan and its division has produced many international cricketers like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Elahi Brothers, Mohammad Zahid, Sohaib Maqsood, Rahat Ali, Asmavia Iqbal and Sania Khan.