Multan: History
=== Origin ===
The region around Multan is home to several archaeological sites dating to the early Harappan period of the Indus Valley Civilisation between 3000 BCE to 2800 BCE. According to the Hindu religious texts, Multan was founded by the sage Kashyapa. 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 Sanskrit epic poem, the Mahabharata. The neighbourhood was visited by the Greek admiral Skylax who sailed down the Indus River in 515 BCE; his account is preserved in the Histories of the Greek historian Herodotus which was written down in 400 BCE.
Multan is believed to have been the Malli capital that was conquered by Alexander the Great in 326 BCE as part of the Mallian campaign. The Mallian people, together with the nearby tribes, gathered an army of 90,000 personnel to fight against an army of 50,000 Greeks. This was perhaps the largest army faced by Greeks in the entire region. During the siege of the city's citadel, Alexander reputedly leaped into the inner area of the citadel, where he faced the Mallian leader. Alexander was wounded by an arrow that had penetrated his lung, leaving him severely injured. During Alexander's era, Multan was located on an island in the Ravi River, which has since shifted course numerous times throughout the centuries.
In the mid-5th century CE, the city was attacked by White Huns, a group of Hephthalite nomads led by Toramana. After a fierce fight they conquered Multan, but did not stay long.
By the mid 7th century CE, Multan was conquered by Chach of Alor of the Buddhist Rai dynasty. Chach appointed a thakur to govern from Multan, and used his army to settle boundary disputes with Kashmir.
Multan was first invaded by a Muslim army after the reign of the caliph Ali, in 664 CE, when Mohalib, an Arab general, occupied the area. The expedition, however, seems to have been directed towards exploration of the country as no attempt was apparently made to retain the conquest. After conquering Sindh, Muhammad ibn Qasim in 712 CE captured Multan following a two-month siege. Following ibn Qasim's conquest, the city's subjects remained mostly non-Muslim for the next few decades under the Umayyad Caliphate.
==== Abbasid Emirate ==== …