Pathankot is a city and the headquarters of Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the sixth most populous city in Punjab after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. The local government is a municipal corporation.
In the Mahabharata and in the works of Sanskrit grammarian and linguist Panini, the region is also mentioned as 'Audumbara', which was classified as Ayudhajivi sangha (warrior community). Numerous coins of great antiquity related to the ancient kingdom of Audumbara were found at various places in Pathankot.
In the medieval period from 11th to 16th centuries, Pathankot was the first capital of the present state of Nurpur Himachal Pradesh, which was earlier known as Dhameri (a corruption of Audumbari) and the name was changed from Dhameri to Nurpur during the reign. of Shahjahan. The Pathania clan of native Pahadi Rajputs of the region derived their name from Pathankot, which was known as Paithan or पैठान (प्रतिष्ठान). Pathankot was invaded by Jarnail Jai Singh Kanhaiya of Kanhaiya Misl and was annexed by the ruling Pathania Rajput clan and merged with Punjab during the rule of Maharaja Ran jits Singh Pathankot was merged with Gurdaspur district in 1853 before becoming part of Kangra after the British annexed the hill parts of the Sikhs after the First Sikh War in 1845. During partition, the original plan of the Boundary Demarcation Commission was to place Pathankot (part of the border). from Gurdaspur district at that time) to Pakistan and Shakargarh district to India. However, when the decision was refined later, it was done the other way around, i.e. Shakargarh district was given to Pakistan and Gurdaspur district to India.
