Batala is the most populated city of the Gurdaspur district of Punjab and is the eight largest city of Punjab with a population 1,50,000, where majority of the population speaks Punjabi The city has tremendous religious significance for the Sikhs since it is believed that Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion was married here to Sulakhni and there are many temples and gurudwaras dedicated to this incident. Batala is famous for iron casting, agricultural and mechanical machinery production. As per the 2011 census report, the population of Gurdaspur district is 2.2 million, out of which 11 percent are in the working age group and 89 percent of the citizens are not in the working segment. Out of the total working segment, 22 percent are employed in the agricultural sector and 9 percent in the household industry. The majority of the working population of 67 percent is employed in rice mills, ginning of cotton, weaving or sugar refining. The city was founded in 1465 by Raja Ram Deo, a Bhati Rajput during the reign of Bahlul Lodi. During partition, Batala was assigned as a part of Pakistan for 3 days before the Indian leaders realized that in this situation Amritsar would be surrounded by Pakistan on two sides. The Indian leaders negotiated the city back from the British immediately thereafter.
