The city of Multan has several early monumental Sufi tombs, a bit similar to Uch Sharif which lies 135 km to the south. Singled out here is the tomb of Shah Rukn-e Alam, built in the 1320s and considered the earliest example of Tughluq architecture. The Tughluqs were a Turkish tribe that ruled Delhi at the time.

It’s an octagonal tomb with tapering walls. The exterior brickwork is embellished with alternating layers of wooden beams and glazed turquoise and blue tiles. You have to concentrate on it for some time to see the fine details, but it is spectacular. Its design inspired the later tombs of Uch Sharif. It is completely preserved (although the original had more tiling inside) and kept in good condition by the Auqaf Department of Punjab Province (which won them an Aga Khan Award in 1977).

The tomb still receives a steady stream of worshippers. They bring rose petals bought from a vendor at the entrance to throw on the coffin.

I don’t see this tomb becoming a WHS on its own (especially with Uch Sharif looming), but when they extend the scope of the site to the ‘Historic Islamic city of Multan’ its chances would certainly improve. Multan was an important medieval trade city connecting the Indian subcontinent with the wider Islamic world and it was covered by Ibn Battuta on his travels. We visited three other notable buildings in this city (and there are many more):

1. Tomb of Baha-ud-Din Zakaria (1262): the shrine to the grandfather of Rukn-e Alam, which lies just down the road. The structure is less decorated than the one of his grandson but it has a finely carved wooden door and a lot of pigeons in the courtyard that are being fed.
2. Tomb of Shamsuddin Sabzwari (1330): this shrine to an Iranian saint is managed by a Shia congregation (the other two described above are Sunni), and it is interesting to see the different traditions of veneration. The Shia use small ceramic oil lamps for example. You can buy all these paraphernalia in the street leading up to the shrine.
3. Eid Gah Mosque (1735): blue tiles on the outside, more exuberant in green, red, yellow and blue with floral motifs on the inside. It has a vast courtyard to house worshippers during Eid. The interior is now used as a madrassah and we found dozens of boys studying in its long hall.