The chief seat of the Malli, Multān was subdued by Alexander the Great in 326 BC and fell to the Muslims about AD 712; for three centuries it remained the outpost of Islām in India. In the 10th century it became a centre of the Qarmaṭian heretics. The commercial and military key to the southern route into India, it suffered several sacks and sieges over the centuries. It was subject to the Delhi sultanate and the Mughal Empire and was then captured by the Afghans (1779), the Sikhs (1818), and the British (1849). Formerly called Kashtpur, Hanspur Bāgpur, Sanb (or Sanābpur), and finally Mulasthān, it derives its name from that of the idol of the sun god temple, a shrine from the pre-Muslim period.

Multān was constituted a municipality in 1867. A commercial and industrial centre, it is connected by road and rail with Lahore and Karāchi and by air with Karāchi, Quetta, and Faisalābād. Industries include fertilizer, soap, and glass factories; foundries; cotton, woolen, and silk textile mills; flour, sugar, and oil mills; and a large thermal-power station. It is noted for its handicrafts (ceramics and camel-skin work) and cottage industries. There are hospitals, public gardens, and several colleges affiliated with the University of the Punjab. The Bahauddin Zakariya University was founded in 1975 as the University of Multān. Large, irregular suburbs have grown outside the old walled town, and satellite towns have been set up. The numerous shrines within the old city offer impressive examples of workmanship and architecture. The Shams-e Tabriz shrine is built almost entirely of sky-blue engraved glazed bricks. That of Shāh Rukn-e ʿAlam (Tughluq period) has one of the biggest domes in Asia. The shrine of Sheikh Yūsuf Gardēz is a masterpiece of the Multāni style. Other shrines include the Pahlādpurī Temple and the ʿĪdgāh Mosque (1735). Pop. (2005 est.) urban agglom., 1,452,000.