Multan is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Located on the eastern bank of the Chenab River, Multan is the administrative centre of the Multan Division and is the sixth-most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 2.1 million. It is a major cultural, religious and economic centre of the Punjab region. It is located in central Pakistan and is the main hub of southern Punjab.

Multan is one of the oldest cities of Asia with a history that stretches deep into antiquity. Multan was part of the Achaemenid Empire of Iran in the early 6th century BC. The ancient city was besieged by Alexander the Great during the Mallian campaign. Later it was conquered by the Umayyad military commander Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 CE after the conquest of Sindh. In the 9th century, it became a separate state as the Emirate of Multan including in its limits parts of Punjab and Kashmir; it was ruled by the Arab rulers. The region came under the rule of Ghaznavids and the Delhi Sultanate in the medieval period. In 1445, it became a separate Langah Sultanate. Multan Subah was one of the largest provinces of the Mughal Empire. The Sikhs ruled over Multan from 1801 till 1848 when it was conquered by the British and made part of the British Punjab.

The city was among the most important trading centres of South Asia with strong ties to Iran, Central Asia and the rest of the Persianate and Muslim world. It was a great centre of knowledge and learning in medieval South Asia during the Turkish-Persian rule, and attracted a multitude of Sufi mystics in the 11th and 12th centuries, becoming a centre of spirituality in South Asia and earning the city the sobriquet "City of Saints." The city, along with the nearby city of Uch, is known for its large number of Sufi shrines dating from that era.