Multan is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, located on the bank of river Chenab. It is one of the five largest urban centres of Pakistan in 2024 and serves as the administrative centre of Multan Division. A major cultural, religious and economic centre of Punjab region, Multan is one of the oldest inhabited cities of Asia, with a history stretching deep into antiquity.
Mughal architecture is the type of Indo-Islamic architecture developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent. It developed from the architectural styles of earlier Muslim dynasties in India and from Iranian and Central Asian architectural traditions, particularly Timurid architecture. It also further incorporated and syncretized influences from wider Indian architecture, especially during the reign of Akbar. Mughal buildings have a uniform pattern of structure and character, including large bulbous domes, slender minarets at the corners, massive halls, large vaulted gateways, and delicate ornamentation; examples of the style can be found in modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
The Durrani dynasty was founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani at Kandahar, Afghanistan. He united the different Pashtun tribes and created the Durrani Empire. which at its peak included the modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, as well as some parts of northeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India including the Kashmir Valley.
A Subah was the term for a province (state) in the Mughal Empire. The term was also used by other polities of the Indian subcontinent. The word is derived from Arabic and Persian. The governor/ruler of a Subah was known as a subahdar, which later became subedar to refer to an officer in the Indian Army and Pakistan Army. The subahs were established by badshah (emperor) Akbar during his administrative reforms of the years 1572–1580; initially, they numbered 12, but his conquests expanded the number of subahs to 15 by the end of his reign. Subahs were divided into Sarkars, or districts. Sarkars were further divided into Parganas or Mahals. His successors, most notably Aurangzeb, expanded the number of subahs further through their conquests. As the empire began to dissolve in the early 18th century, many subahs became effectively independent or were conquered by the Marathas or the British.
Multan, the 4th largest city of Pakistan, in Punjab province is one of the oldest cities in South Asia, though its exact age has yet to be determined. Multan remained the capital and largest city of Punjab region in late ancient and most of the medieval era. The Multan region was centre of many civilizations throughout its history, and has witnessed warfare across millennia because of its location on a major invasion route between South and Central Asia. Multan reached the height of its splendour during the Arab rule of 9th and 10th century when it was made a separate state, the Emirate of Multan, as it controlled large parts of Punjab and Kashmir. It is famous for its Sufi shrines. Multan province was one of the largest and first-established provinces of the Mughal Empire.
Pakistani architecture is intertwined with the architecture of the broader Indian subcontinent. The major architectural styles popular in the past were Temple, Indo-Islamic, Mughal and Indo-Saracenic architecture, all of which have many regional varieties. With the beginning of the Indus civilization around the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, for the first time in the area which encompasses today's Pakistan an advanced urban culture developed with large structural facilities, some of which survive to this day. This was followed by the Gandhara style of Buddhist architecture that borrowed elements from Ancient Greece. These remnants are visible in the Gandhara capital of Taxila.
Ali Mardan Khan was a Kurdish military leader and administrator, serving under the Safavid kings Shah Abbas I and Shah Safi, and later the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan. He was the son of Ganj Ali Khan. After surrendering the city of Qandahar, part of the easternmost territories of the Safavids to the Mughals in 1638, he served with distinction in the Mughal administration, earning the highest honors of the Mughal court.
The Mughal Empire was an early modern Indo-Muslim empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India.
The Mughal–Safavid war of 1649–1653 was fought between the Mughal and Safavid empires in the territory of modern Afghanistan. While the Mughals were at war with the Janid Uzbeks, the Safavid army captured the fortress city of Kandahar and other strategic cities that controlled the region. The Mughals attempted to regain the city, but their efforts were proven unsuccessful.
The siege of Kandahar lasted from November 1605 to January 1606 and was led by Safavids to take the Mughal frontier city of Kandahar. After two months of constant assaults, the relief army forced the Persians to retreat. Thus, resulted in a decisive victory for the Mughal Empire.
Timur Shah Durrani, also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the second eldest son of Ahmad Shah Durrani.
Najabat Khan was an Indian Pathan warrior of the 18th century, and founder of a line of chiefs of Kunjpura which he was granted by Nadir Shah in 1739 and the titlehood "Nawab". Nawab Najabat Khan was killed during the Battle of Kunjpura at his fort on 17 October 1760 by the Marathas led by Ibrahim Khan Gardi during Third Battle of Panipat preparations.
Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh is a Persian language chronicle written by Sujan Rai in the Mughal Empire of present-day India. It deals with the history of Hindustan, and it also contains details about the contemporary Mughal Empire. Sujan Rai completed the book in 1695 CE, during the reign of Aurangzeb. An insertion about Aurangzeb's death was later added to the original copy by a transcriber.
The Agra Subah was a subah of the Mughal Empire, established in the reign of Emperor Akbar and one of the empire's core territories until it was eclipsed by the rapidly expanding Maratha Empire. To the north it bordered Delhi and Awadh, to the east Allahabad, and to the south and west Malwa and Ajmer. Its capital was at Agra, an important administrative center of the empire which was expanded under Mughal rule.
The Ajmer Subah was one of the original 12 subahs that comprised the Mughal Empire after the administrative reform by Akbar. Its borders roughly corresponded to modern-day Rajasthan, and the capital was the city of Ajmer.
The Subah of Lahore was a province of the Mughal Empire encompassing the central Punjab and eastern Punjab, now divided between Pakistan and India. It was created as one of the original 12 Subahs of the Mughal Empire under the administrative reforms carried by emperor Akbar in 1580. The province ceased to exist after the death of its last viceroy, Adina Beg in 1758, with large parts being incorporated into Durrani Empire. Collectively, Lahore and Multan Subahs comprised Mughal Punjab.
Mian-Moin-ul-Mulk also known by his title Mir Mannu was the Mughal and later Durrani governor of the Punjab between 1748 and 1753.
The foreign relations of the Mughal Empire were characterized by competition with the Persian Empire to the west, the Marathas and others to the south, and the British to the east. Steps were taken by successive Mughal rulers to secure the western frontiers of India. The Khyber Pass along the Kabul- Qandahar route was the natural defence for India, and their foreign policy revolved around securing these outposts, as also balancing the rise of powerful empires in the region. During the break up of the Timurid Empire in the 15th century, the Ottomans in Turkey, the Safavids in Persia and the Uzbegs in central Asia emerged as the new contenders of power. While the Safavids were Shia by faith, Ottomans along with Uzbegs were Sunni. The Mughals were also Sunni and Uzbegs were their natural enemies, who caused Babur and other Timurid princes to leave Khurasan and Samarqand. The powerful Uzbegs who held sway over central India sought an alliance of Sunni powers to defeat the Shia ruled Persia, but Mughals were too broadminded to be driven away by the sectarian conflicts. The Mughal rulers, especially Akbar, were keen to develop strong ties with Persia in order to balance the warring Uzbegs. Thus, the foreign policy of Mughals was centred around strengthening the ties with Persia, while maintaining the balance of power in the region by keeping a check on the evolution of a united Uzbeg empire.
Hyderabad Subah, also known as Golconda Subah, was a province of the Mughal Empire encompassing the eastern Deccan region of the Indian subcontinent. It was created in 1687, during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, by the annexation of the Golconda Sultanate. It later began to secede in the 18th century as the Mughal Empire declined and became fully independent as part of the Nizam-administered Deccan.
Langah is a historical tribe and surname found in Balochistan, Sindh and south Punjab. They are considered as Jats or Rajput.
