Emirate of Multan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 855–1010 | |||||||||
![Coinage of Emir Munabbih I, flourished 912-3 CE. Obverse: śri adi/ varāha ("Lord Adi Varaha", an avatar of Vishnu) in Brahmi in two lines.[1] Reverse: Three pellets; lillah munabbih in Arabic below.[2] of Emirate of Multan](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCoinage_of_Multan_ruler_Munabbih_I_flourished_912-3_CE_%25C5%259Bri_adi_var%25C4%2581ha_in_Brahmi_in_two_lines_Three_pellets%3b_lillah_munabbih_in_Arabic_below.jpg) Coinage of Emir Munabbih I, flourished 912-3 CE.Obverse:śri adi/ varāha ("LordAdi Varaha", an avatar ofVishnu) in Brahmi in two lines.[1]Reverse: Three pellets;lillah munabbih in Arabic below.[2] | |||||||||
 Map of the Multan Emirate circa 900 CE. | |||||||||
| Status | Emirate | ||||||||
| Capital | Multan | ||||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Munabbih I came to power under Abbasid Caliphate | 855 | ||||||||
• Anarchy at Samarra allowed Banu Munabbih to declare independence | 861 | ||||||||
• Banu Lawi overthrew the Banu Munabbih | 959 | ||||||||
| 1010 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Pakistan India | ||||||||
TheEmirate of Multan was amedieval kingdom in Punjab region in the northwestIndian subcontinent[3] that was centred around the city ofMultan (present-dayPunjab, Pakistan). It initially extended towards parts of Kashmir, and included parts of present-day Punjab. It was initially ruled by the tribe ofBanu Munabbih. In 959CE,Ismailis under theLodis gained control of the Emirate and in 1010, it was conquered by theGhaznavid Empire.[4]
The Emirate of Multan became independent after thedisintegration of Abbasid Caliphate. The principally was located in SouthernPunjab, it bordered theHindu Shahi Kingdom in northernPunjab andHabbarid Emirate at the south inSindh.
Multan, along withSindh came under the rule of Muslims by the conquest ofUmayyad Caliphate under GeneralMuhammad Bin Qasim. Over the course of the mid-ninth century, Abbasid authority in Sind gradually waned. As the central government's authority over Sind declined, the region underwent a period of decentralization.[5] Multan also became capital of an independent emirate under an Arab tribe Banu Munabbih.
By the mid-800s, theBanu Munabbih (also known as theBanu Sama), who claimed descent from theProphet Muhammad'sQuraysh tribe came to rule Multan, and established the Emirate, which ruled for the next century.[6] At the opening of 10th century,Ibn Rusta was first to report a well established Emirate in Multan. Muhammad III, whose full name was Muhammad bin al-Qasim bin Munabbih, was reported byAl-Biruni to be the first of the Banu Munabbih (Samid) rulers of Multan - he conquered Multan and issued silver dammas bearing his Hindu epithet "Mihiradeva" ("Sun god") on the reverse.[6]
During this era, theMultan Sun Temple was noted by the 10th century Arab geographerAl-Muqaddasi to have been located in a most populous part of the city.[7] The Hindu temple was noted to have accrued the Muslim rulers large tax revenues,[8] by some accounts up to 30% of the state's revenues.[9] During this time, the city's Arabic nickname wasFaraj Bayt al-Dhahab, ("Frontier House of Gold"), reflecting the importance of the temple to the city's economy.[9]
By the mid 10th century, Multan had come under the influence of theQarmatians. The Qarmatians had been expelled fromEgypt andIraq following their defeat at the hands of theAbbasids there. They wrested control of the city from the pro-Abbasid Amirate of Banu Munabbih,[10] and pledged allegiance to theFatimid Caliphate based inCairo instead ofAbbasid Caliphate atBaghdad.[11][12]
Jalambin Shayban, a proselytizingDa'i that had been dispatched to the region by the Fatimid CaliphImam al-Mu'izz,[13] was dispatched to replace the city's previousDa'i who had been accused of promoting a syncretic version of Islam that incorporated Hindu rites[9] – though his replacement was likely the result of doctrinal differences regarding succession in the IsmailiImamate.[7] It was during the later part of his rule,[a] that theMultan Sun Temple was destroyed alongside Umayyad Sunni Jama Mosque and a new mosque erected at the site.[9]
The Lodi/Lawi dynasty was founded bySheikh Hamid, Hamid's origins are disputed. According to some scholars, Hamid was supposedly a descendant of Sama (or Usama) Lawi who was son of Ghalib Lawi.[14][15] Other sources state that he was from theLodi tribe ofPashtuns.[16][17][18]Al-Masudi who visited Multan after 912 AD states that the ruler Abu Lahab al-Munabbah bin Asad al-Qarshi was descended from the clan of Usama or Sama bin Lu'ayy bin Ghalib.[19][20]Hudud al-'Alam mentions that the ruler was a Quraishite.[21]Ibn Hawqal who visited Multan in 367 AH also mentions that the rulers were the descendant of Sama bin Loi bin Ghalib.[22] According toSamuel Miklos Stern, the Lodi dynasty itself might have been fabricated as its mention only starts appearing with later historians like Firishta.[21]
During the reign ofSheikh Hamid, the Ghaznavid AmirSabuktagin invadedMultan in 381/991 during his era, but later made a truce with Hamid Lodi, as Isma'ili Multan served as a buffer-state between the rising Turkish power of Ghazna and the old Hindu rulers-the Imperial Pratiharas ofKanauj.
.svg)
Abul Fateh Daud was the grandson and successor of Hamid Lodi.[25] During his reign, Multan was attacked by theGhaznavids, destabilizing the Ismaili state.Mahmud of Ghazna invaded Multan in 1005, conducting a series of campaigns during which some Ismailis were massacred while most later converted toSunni Hanafifiqh.[26] The city was surrendered, and Abdul Fateh Daud was permitted to retain control over the city with the condition that he adhere to the Sunni interpretation of Islam.[27] Mahmud appointed a Hindu-convert, Nawasa Khan, to rule the region in Mahmud's absentia. After being granted power, Niwasa Khan renounced Islam, and attempted to secure control of the region in collusion with Abdul Fateh Daud.[27] Mahmud of Ghazni then led another expedition to Multan in 1007 C.E. against Niwasa Khan, who was then captured and forced to relinquish his personal fortune to Ghazni.[27]
Fateh Daud was then deposed byMahmud of Ghazni,[28] in the course of his conquest of Multan.[29] He fled to a fort where he immured himself and was finally pardoned by Mahmud of Ghazni on the promise of payment of ransom.[30] Abul Fatah Daud offered a yearly tribute of 200,000 goldendirhams and conversion fromShiaIsmailifiqh toSunniHanafifiqh. The terms were accepted, and SultanMahmud Ghaznavi also exacted two million dirhams from the population of Multan by force. After death of Fateh Daud, the Emirate was abolished and annexed into Ghaznavid Empire.[31]
The economy of Multan at that time period seems to be rather vibrant. The 10th century Arab historianAl-Masudi noted Multan as the city where Central Asian caravans from IslamicKhorasan would assemble.[11] The 10th century Persian geographerEstakhri noted that the city of Multan along with Sindh's Mansura were the only two Arab principalities in South Asia.
During reign of Jalam Bin Shayban, Multan continued to be a prosperous city, as witness by famous geographer and travellerAl-Muqadassi in 985;
"The people of Multan are Shi'a...... In Multan the Khutba is read in the name of the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt and the place is administered by his orders. Gifts are regularly sent from here to Egypt".
Multan is smaller than Mansurah in size. but has a large population. Fruits are not found in plenty.. yet they are sold cheaper.... like Siraf, Multan has wooden homes. There is no bad conduct and drunkenness here, and people convicted of these crimes are punished with death or by some heavy sentence. Business is fair and honest. Travellers are looked after well. . Most of the inhabitants are Arabs. They live by a river. The place in abounds vegetation and wealth. Trade flourishes here. Good manners and good living are noticed everywhere. The Government is just. Women of the town are modestly dressed with no make-up and hardly found talking to any one in the streets. The water is healthy and the standard of living high. There is happiness, well-being and culture here, Persian is understood. Profits of business are high. People are healthy, but the town is not clean. Houses are small. The climate is warm and arid. The people are of darkish complexion. In Multan, the coin is minted on the style of the Fatimid Egyptian coin, but the Qanhari coins are commonly used.[32][full citation needed]
From southern Iran the Arabs pressed forward through Baluchistan as far as the Indus Valley and founded the emirate of Multan in 711, which was to become the nucleus of Islamic India
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)"The Lōdīs are related to a clan of the Ghilzay tribe of Afghanistān [see ghalzay] and ruled over parts of north India for 77 years. Afghāns came to the Indus plains from Rōh [q.v.] as early as 934/711-12 with the army of Muḥammad b. Ķāsim, the conqueror of Sind, and allied themselves politically with the Hindū-Shāhī [q.v.] rulers of Lahore, and receiving part of Lāmghān [see lāmghānāt ] for settlement, built a fort in the mountains of Peshawar to protect ¶ the Pandjāb from raids. During Alptigin's government at Ghazna, when his commander-in-chief Sebüktigin raided Lāmghān and Multān, the Afghans sought help from Rādjā Djaypāl who appointed their chief, Shaykh Ḥamīd Lōdī, viceroy of the wilāyats of Lamghān and Multān. Shaykh Ḥamīd appointed his own men as governors of those districts, and thereby the Afghāns gained political importance; their settlements stretched southwards from Lāmghān to Multān, incorporating the tracts of Bannū and Dērā Ismā'īl Khān. Later, a family of the Lōdī tribe settled at Multān, which was ruled in 396/1005 by Abu 'l-Fatḥ Dāwūd, a grandson of Shaykh Ḥamīd.