Multan has always remained a center of excellence in education. Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya (1172- 1262 A.D.), a Muslim religious scholar and saint, established a school of higher learning in theology in Multan; where scholars from all over the world came for studies and research. Multan has maintained its central position and centuries old cultural heritage and therefore suited ideally to become a center of learning. Thus the university of Multan was established in 1975 by an act of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. To pay to homage to the Great Saint, the name was changed from University of Multan to Bahauddin Zakariya University in 1979.