GLAZED TILES OF MULTAN

Dr. Ashiq Muhammad Khan Durrani*

Multan is a very old living city in southern Punjab. The

city is situated on a high mound ( 1) of fifty feet above the
surface and conceals within its womb buried treasures of the
past. Digging (2) in the old fort by Alexander Cunningham in
1853 and 1864 revealed cultural material in the form of pottery
and· several other articles including the pieces of the glazed
tiles. If Cunningham is to be believed the art of the glazed tile
was not known to Multan before A. D. 900 ( 3). It is supported
by the writings of Hiuen Tsang ( 4) who visited Multan in A. D.
641. He mentioned about the cultural prosperity of Multan and
ten Sangharamas and temples including the famous Sun-temple
but without highlighting the architectural beauty of these
monuments. He is also silent about the decoration of these
monuments with the glazed tiles. It is clear that this industry
was not introduced in Multan during the Hindu period.

With the advent of Islam in the lowest Indus territory in

the 8th century, the Arab invaders 'introduced into this region
the glazed tile decoration imported from the Babylonian cities of
the plains and which is still a living art in Multan and other
places in its vicinity (5)'-. During the early Muslim period, the
Muslim rulers took keen interest in the promotion of the glazed
tile industry in Multar as is evident from the decoration of
mosques and tombs with the glazed tiles. The structure of the
tomb of Hazrat Diwan Chawli furnishes sufficient material that
the industry of the glazed tiles had started developing in
Multan with the advent of Islam. The same way it is evident
from the mosque adjacent to the tomb of Hazrat Diwan Chawli.
This mosque was built by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna in early
11th century (6).

There was a very old mosque in Churi Sarai (inside the

city), it was recently demolished to constructed a new mosque
at its place. When its western wall was demolished which was
about six feet in breadth, the people found a copper plate and
several glazed tiles alongwith an inner wall of some other
mosque older than the present one. The people were surprised

* Chairman, Department of History & Pakistan Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya

University, Multan.
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to see that ·there was the following inscription in Arabic script
on the copper plate:

'al-Masjid Muhammad bin Qasim'

The inner wall was of burnt bricks. After investigation, I

am of the opinion that there was a very old mosque built during
the early Muslim period and the glazed tiles were also used as
decoration.

With the passage of time, this industry started developing.

In the beginning the Kashigars (makers of the glazed tiles)
used to write only the names of Allah (God) and Muhammad --
peace be upon him, on the glazed tiles but with the passage of
time, they started tracing flowers on the glazed tiles. The
Kashigars were in habit of using three colours in making the
glazed tiles and those colours were blue and turquoise with
white basement. This industry started flourishing during the
Sultanate period and reached at its zenith during the Mughul
period. The Muslim rulers of Multan patronised the Koshi gars.
The result was that trained people in this field started migrat-
ing to Multan from far flung areas specially from Kash gar.
There is a locality inside the city known as Mahala Kashigaran
(inside Daulat gate) where only the Kashigars live till this day.
They trace their origin and state that their ancestors migrated
to Multan from Kash gar in the 13th century. Multan became
famous for the glazed tiles. The colour and quality of the
glazed tiles used to be very fast. The tombs of Hazrat Syed
Yusuf Shah Gardez (built in 1150), Hazrat Bah a-al-din Zakariya
(died in 1267), Hazrat Rukn-al-Din (built in 1320), and Hazrat
Shah Shams Sabzwari (built in 1329) are the sufficient proof.
The glazed tiles used on the main gate of the tomb of Hazrat
Moosa Gilani are exceptionally beautiful. The tomb was built
during the early period of Shah J ahan. It was a fashion to
trace flowers, leafs, fruit tray, fruit pot, flower pot known as
Cu/don and different fruits specially the mango. During the
Mughal period, it was a common fashion that the rich people got
the glazed tiles fixed on the outer gate of their houses. These
glazed tiles also reflect the · art of calligraphy because certain
things were sometime written on the glazed tiles, for example,
the name of the owner of the house, date, names of God and
His Prophet etc. The prosperity of Multan is fully attested by
the Muslim authors who have given a description of flourishing
industry and rich agricultural crops (7). The prosperous
Multan patronised the glazed tiles industry till the Afghan
period in Multan. During the Afghan period (1752-1818) the

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Afghan Subedars of Multan also patronised this industry. The
glazed tiles were used in all the tombs, mosques and govern-
ment buildings under the patronage of th~ Afghans. They took
keen interest in this industry but after the annexation of
Multan by the Sikhs (Maharaja Ranjit Singh) in 1818, the glazed
tile industry started declining because . the Sikhs contributed
nothing but destroyed every thing. Du r ~n g the British period it
became a costly business to get the glazed tiles of old standard
and fashion be fixed as decoration pieces on private houses
whereas the British government was not interested in promoting
such local industry. After the emergence of Pakistan, the
people started liking the marble stones instead of the glazed
tiles which resulted in the rapid decline of its fashion as well
as the old standard. At present, the Kashigars are not satisfied
with their business because there is no agency left to patronise
the glazed tile industry. If the present trend continues, this
industry will die soon.

BIBLI(X:;RAPHY

1. Alexander Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, Calcutta, 1924.

2. Alexander Cunningham, Archaeological Survey of India, Vol •• V. Report for

the year 1872-73, Calcutta, 1875.

3. Aulad Ali Gilani, Murraqqa-i-Multan, Multan, 1938.

4. Percy Brown, Indian Architecture, (The Islamic Period).Third Edition,

Bombay, 1942.

5. Samuel Beal, Chinese Accounts of India, Calcutta, 1958, Vol.IV.

6. S,M. Ikram, History of Muslim Civilisation in India and Pa~istan, Lahore,

1962.

REFERENCES

1. Alexander Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, Calcutta, 1924, p. 194.

2. According to Cunningham, there were two mounds, on the high mound, the
citadel was situated. See: Ibid. p.194.

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3. Ibid. pp. 127-128.

4. Samuel Beal, Chinese Accounts of India, Calcutta, 1958, vol.IV., P. 463.

5. Percy E!rown, Indian Architecture, (The Islamic Period), Third Edition,

Bombay, 1942, P. 6.

Chawli: A Hindu prince whose father was ruler of Dhodi-situated near Maiisi
(Multan District). He embraced Islam soon after Multan was captured in ~.D.
713 by Muhammad bin Qasim. He died in A·. o. 749 and was burried in Mailsi
(near Dhodi-his native land). His followers built his tomb. Now the origi-
nal tomb is replaced with a new one. See: Syed Aula Ali Gilani, Murraqqa-i-
Multan, Multan, 1938; pp. 225, 226.

6. Murraqqa-i-Multan, Multan, p. 226.

7. S.M. Ikram, History of Muslim Civilisation in India and Pakistan, Lahore,

1962, pp. 16-18.

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