The City of Multan
The city of Multan
is not more than a century old. Just hundred years back
this region was the center of keeping livestock. This city
was irrigated in 1892 when Jhang & Gogera branches were
supplied water. The foundation of first ever-residential
area was laid in 1895. Its main purpose was the construction
of a market. During those days, the area across the river
Chenab was called “Sandal Bar”. Before the establishment
of Lyallpur City the ancient residential area was called
“Pakka Marri” now known as “Pakki Marri”.
The caravans
used to stay at this place while traveling from Jhang to
Lahore. The English travellers of those times wanted to
convert this area into a city. In the beginning the small
establishment was called “Chenab Canal Colony”
which was later named “Lyallpur” after the name
of Governor of Punjab Lt. General Sir James B Lyall.
The foundation
of Lyallpur was laid in 1896. Its famous clock tower was
built on a well. It was completed in 1906. The construction
of this clock tower was completed under the supervision
of Ghulab Khan who belonged to the family who built Taj
Mahal in Agra. The clock was brought from Bombay. It is
believed that the clock tower was built in the memory of
Queen Victoria after her death. By the time this tower was
built the eight bazaars were already operational.
The map of
Multan is just the copy of British flag Union jack designed
by an architect Desmond Yong. However, the real design on
which this city is planned was of Sir Ganga Ram, who was
a famous town planner of his time. The total area of 110
sq. acres was used to build eight bazaars & clock tower
in a round shape. All these eight bazaars are connected
with each other through another bazaar, which is called
Goal Bazaar.
G
E N E R A L C O U N T R Y I N F O R M A T I O N
Climate The months of May, June, July are hot.
However winter and spring are very pleasant
Currency Unit of currency is the Rupee.
Foreign currency can be exchanged at the Hotel Reception
Credit Cards American Express, Visa, Master Cards, JCB,
MCB, HBL, UBL
In 1910,
the famous and oldest Chenab Club was constructed. There,
British rulers used to spend their evenings to entertain
themselves with drinks & music. In 1908, Punjab Agricultural
College and Khalsa School were opened. Later Khalsa School
was upgraded as Khalsa College, which is now called Municipal
Degree College. The first railway started in 1910. The first
residential area was Douglas Pura established in 1920. Industrialization
was started in 1930. The project of “Lyallpur Cotton
Mills” was completed in 1934. With the establishment
of Pakistan as the population increased the city also expanded.
When Pakistan came into being the area of this city was
3 sq. miles. Now it is more than 10 sq. miles. New residential
areas were established like Peoples colony, Ghulam Muhammadabad,
Lahore colony, Afghanabad, Jail road etc.
In 1961,
the population of the city was 0.43 million which was increased
to 0.83 million in 1972. By 1981, it went up to 1.1 million.
Now demographically, Multan is the third biggest city
of Pakistan after Karachi & Lahore. Because of this
in 1972 Municipal Committee was upgraded to Municipal Corporation.
In July 1982 Multan was upgraded as the Capital of Division.
Along with these changes the name of the city was changed
to Multan after the name of Saudi King Shah Faisal.
Today, Multan
is the biggest industrial city of Pakistan. Due to its emphasis
on textile products, It is also known as the Manchester
of Pakistan. It is the third biggest industrial & trade
center of Pakistan. When Pakistan came into being there
were two dozen factories in Multan, which increased
to 43 by 1948. Now the industrial units are more than one
thousand. It is the biggest textile center of Pakistan.
Apart from textile unit there are Flour, Oil, Artificial
Fertilizers, Art Silk, Agricultural Equipment & Wood
industries in this city. It is believed that Multan
is the second biggest revenue-generating city of Pakistan.
Asia’s biggest and the only Agricultural University
is in this city. It also has a Textile College, which is
the only one of its kind in the Country. |
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