Jullundur was the headquarters of Jullundur District in the Jullundur Division of Punjab Province during the British period.
Other nearby cities include Ludhiana to the south and Amritsar to the north.
In 1901 the Jullunder town had two flour mills and a brass and iron foundry, and its trades included silk manufacture and carpentry.
The cantonment had been established in 1846, four miles to the west of the town, and usually contained two batteries of field artillery, one battalion of British infantry, one regiment of native cavalry and a battalion of native infantry.
The Prince Consort’s Own Rifle Brigade, 3rd Battalion, was stationed there in 1892.
The District Of Jullundur occupies the lower part of the tract known as the Jullundur Doab, between the rivers Sutlej and Beas, except that it is separated from the Beas by the state of Kapurthala. Area, 1431 sq. m. Pop. (1901), 917,587, showing an increase of I % in the decade; the average density is 641 persons per square mile, being the highest in the province.
Cotton-weaving and sugar manufacture are the principal industries for export trade, and silk goods and wheat are also exported. The district is crossed by the main line of the North-Western railway from Phillaur towards Amritsar.
The Jullundur Doab in early times formed the Hindu kingdom of Katoch, ruled by a family of Rajputs whose descendants still exist in the petty princes of the Kangra hills.
Under Mahommedan rule the Doab was generally attached to the province of Lahore, in which it is included as a circar or governorship in the great revenue survey of Akbar.
Its governors seem to have held an autonomous position, subject to the payment of a fixed tribute into the imperial treasury.
The Sikh revival extended to Jullundur at an early period, and a number of petty chieftains made themselves independent throughout the Doab.
In 1766 the town of Jullundur fell into the hands of the Sikh confederacy of Faiz-ulla-puria, then presided over by Khushal Singh.
His son and successor built a masonry fort in the town, while several other leaders similarly fortified themselves in the suburbs.
Meanwhile, Ranjit Singh was consolidating his power in the south, and in 1811 he annexed the Faiz-ulla-puria dominions.
Thenceforth Jullundur became the capital of the Lahore possessions in the Doab until the British annexation at the close of the first Sikh war (1846).