The Subah of Multan was one of twelve administrative divisions created by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1580.

During the Mughal era, Multan was an important centre of agricultural production and manufacturing of cotton textiles.

[5] Multan would remain an important trading centre until the city was ravaged by repeated invasions in the 18th and 19th centuries in the post-Mughal era.

[6] Many of Multan's merchants then migrated to Shikarpur in Sindh,[6] and were found throughout Central Asia up until the 19th century.

[6] Multan was also host to the offices of many commercial enterprises during the Mughal era,[4] even in times when the Mughals were in control of the even more coveted city of Kandahar, given the unstable political situation resulting from frequent contestation of Kandadar with the Persian Safavid Empire.