One of the oldest existing cities of the state of Punjab and a municipal corporation of the district of the same name, Jalandhar is proportionately positioned on the deeply irrigated plains that lie interjecting the two rivers Beas and Sutlej. Located approximately 144 km to the Northwest of the state capital Chandigarh, Jalandhar is enclosed by Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Firozpur districts. The term ‘Jalandhar’ can be split as ‘Jal’ and ‘Andhar’, which means inside the water. This theory is certified by citing the location of Jalandhar which happens to be in the middle of the two great rivers of Punjab; Beas and Sutlej. As per the legend, the city is believed to be christened after an invincible demon king named ‘Jalandhar’ who was killed by Lord Shiva. Jalandhar City was also known by another title ‘Trigarta’ which means the locus watered by three rivers: Beas, Ravi and Sutlej. Known as ‘Jullundur’ during the Birtish Raj, today Jalandhar is world’s biggest manufacturer of leather articles and also the home to the biggest printing industry of the country. Moreover, Jalandhar is also venerated as the foremost producer of the sports goods all over the globe. Auto parts industry, rubber goods industry, surgical instruments industry, etc. are some other industries flourishing in Jalandhar. This city also records the maximum percentage of NIRs in India. No wonder Jalandhar is nicknamed as the commercial capital of the country.

The genesis of Jalandhar leads us back to the Mahabharata period when this region was known by the name ‘Prasthala’. Mythological background of the city indicates that it was named after a mighty demon King named Jalandhar who was rendered invincible and immortal by the virtues of his wife Vrinda. According to another legend Jalandhar acted as the capital of the Kingdome of King Luv, one of the twin sons of Lord Ram. Jalandhar, along with Multan is the earliest surviving civics of the Punjab Region as the chronicled history of this metropolitan is as old as 100 AD. The terrain of Jalandhar that lies between Beas and Sutlej (Jalandhar Doab) once belonged to the empire of Alexander the Great and marked the eastern most boundary of his territory. The travelogues of the famous Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang who visited India in 7th century AD suggest that present Jalandhar was known as Trigarta and Raja Utito, who is referred to by Alexander Cunningham as a Rajput King from Kotach Dynasty named Raja Attar Chand, ruled the domain. When Hiuen Tsang visited Trigarta, this large city furnished as the capital of the far reaching Rajput Kingdom of Raja Utito. His Rajput successors continued ruling this region till 12th century AD and Jalandhar functioned as the state capital over all those years.

A Chinese pilgrim named Fa Hien who visited India between 399 AD and 411 AD has registered the existence of around 50 Buddhist Viharas at Jalandhar. Buddhism is believed to be prevailing in this region since 1st century AD. Between 8th and 10th century AD Jalandhar became the center of the Nath Sampraday. One of the most remarkable saints of Nath Sampraday was Jalandhar Nath whose ‘Samadhi’ was laid down at the very place where the shrine of Imam Nasir-ud-din Chishti today stands. From the second half of the 10th century to 1019 AD, Jalandhar District was a part of the Shahi Kingdom of Punjab with Jalandhar being an eminent city of the domain. Around 1188 AD, Jalandhar was taken over by the army of Ibrahim Shah of Ghor and under the rule of Mughals, Jalandhar functioned as the headquarters of a Mughal Government (Sarkar). Durranis appointed Maharaja Ghamand Chand of the Katoch dynasty the first Rajput Nizam of Jalandhar in the year 1758. Numerous Rajput families used to dwell in the surroundings of Jalandhar till the partition of 1947.

Sikhs captured Jalandhar in 1757 and later in 1766 it changed hands from Sikhs to Faizullahpuria confederacy. Maharaja Ranjit Singh regained this region and annexed Jalandhar with his kingdom in the year 1811. In the first Anglo Sikh War British acquired a significant amount of land from Sikhs and made Jalandhar the headquarters of that province in the year 1846. Gradually British formed a district named Jalandhar and again made this city its administrative base. Ormerod served as the Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar District and the chairman of the District Board from 1939 to 1945. During that period Jalandhar District comprised of four subdivisions namely Nakodar, Nawanshahr, Philaur and Jalandhar. At the time of partition, the Muslim population of Jalandhar found their way to Pakistan while Sikhs and Hindus alighted at Jalandhar from different parts and settled down here. Mr Fletcher served as the last commissioner of Jalandhar when Indian National Government took the possession of the district and annexed it to the newly formed Indian Union. After Independence, Jalandhar furnished as the state capital of Punjab from 1947 to 1953 until Chandigarh was constructed and made the common capital of Punjab and Hariyana. Today Jalandhar is one of the leading tourist destinations of Punjab and a speedily developing industrial hub of the country.