Harry Brook created history by scoring a triple century in the first test against Pakistan. This is the same ground of ‘Multan’ where exactly twenty years ago i.e. in 2004, Virender Sehwag had scored a triple century against Pakistan. Now Harry Brook has also joined this list.
Harry Brook has become the fifth batsman in the world to score a triple century against Pakistan team. After this brilliant performance of Harry Brook, he is being called the Sultan of ‘Multan’, but do you know that the place where this test match is being played has a grand history. What connection does this place have with Hindu, Sikh and Sufi religions? Let us know-
about multan
Multan is the seventh largest city of Pakistan. Multan is a province of Punjab province. After partition, a large number of people came from India from Multan and are still living in Delhi and its surrounding areas. If you look into the pages of history, you will find that this is the same Multan where Muhammad Ghori had launched his first attack in 1175. From here he entered Gujarat.
Multan’s connection with Hinduism
Many signs of Hinduism are still present in Multan. Turning the pages of history shows how deep the roots of Hinduism were in Multan, Pakistan. Five thousand years ago, Samba, son of Krishna and Jambavati, had built a Sun temple in Multan. Samba was suffering from leprosy, to get relief from which this temple was built. This temple was also called ‘Aditya Sun Temple’, there was a very beautiful idol of Lord Aditya here. The grandeur of this temple was widely discussed. Its description is found in Bhavishyapuran and Skandapuran.
It is also believed that Multan was earlier called Kashyappura. Historian Greek Admiral Skylax mentions the Sun Temple in one of his books. It is said that Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang visited the temple in 641 AD. He had described the beauty of this temple in a very interesting manner. Hiuen Tsang was extremely impressed by seeing the idol of Lord Bhaskar made of gems and gold here. Hiuen Tsang tells that thousands of Hindu devotees used to come to the Sun Temple regularly to worship the Sun God.
After the invasion of Muhammad bin Qasim in the 8th century, it is believed that the Sun Temple became a huge source of income for the Muslim ruler. Muhammad bin Qasim also built a mosque near the temple.
Historian Al Beruni also visited Multan in the 11th century and mentioned about the Sun Temple, which was later completely destroyed and never rebuilt. It is said that the Sun Temple was destroyed by the new dynasty Ismaili rulers of Multan at the end of the 10th century.
Sufism and Multan
Multan has been a stronghold of Pirs and Sufi saints since the beginning. Shams Tabrez (Makhdoom Shah Shamsuddin) propagated Sufism a lot. The fanatic Muslims of that time did not like Shams Tabrez becoming a Sufi and killed him by skinning him. The tomb of Shams Tabriz is still situated in Multan and a fair is still held in the month of May. Where people who follow Sufism come in large numbers.
It is said that Guru Nanak Dev also came to Multan and visited the place of Shams Tabrez. From here Nanak Dev Ji came to Kartarpur in 1530.
Bahauddin Zakaria, who was the first to propagate Suhrawardy Silsila in India, was also born in 1182 in Kot Anger of Multan. It can be said that the relationship between Multan and India is very old. A saying about Multan which is famous even today – “There are four things in Multan, dust, heat, fakir and graveyard.” That is, four things of Multan are very famous – storm, heat, pir-fakir and graveyard. There are countless tombs and dargahs in Multan. It is also called the city of saints.
