Batala is the eighth largest city in the state of Punjab, India in terms of population after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Mohali and Hoshiarpur.

Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion was married here to Mata Sulakhni, the daughter of Mul Chand Chauna in 1485.

Batala is still one of the leading cities in Northern India in manufacturing of cast iron and mechanical machinery.

The city was founded in 1465 by Abhay Pratap Bal of Kapurthala under the suzerainty of Sultan Bahlul Lodi.

The allocation of the Gurdaspur district during the partition of India was highly contested because it was in central Punjab and had roughly equal proportion of Muslim and non-Muslim populations.

The whole district was shown as part of Pakistan in the 'notional partition line' in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the issue was referred to the Punjab Boundary Commission.

[8] The table below shows the population of different religious groups in Batala city and their gender ratio, as of 2011 census.

It is a source of potassium nitrate which can be used for making crackers and gunpowder, in the match and sugar industries, and as fertilizer.

Located in Gurdaspur district, 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Amritsar on the Kashmir Grand Trunk road.

One of the older towns in the province of Lahore in earlier times, Batala is home to many monuments of religious and historic importance, such as Hazira Park, Barah Dari, Hakikat Samadh.

The water reservoir was built by Shamsher Khan while the beautiful Baradari in the centre of the tank was constructed by Maharaja Sher Singh.

Nowadays, on one side of the tank is located a vridh ashram owned and managed by the Dainik Prarthana Sabha.

The upper portion of Jal Mahal is in a dilapidated condition and the time is not far when this magnificent structure will pass into oblivion.

Guru Nanak Dev ji was sitting beside a crooked mud wall (kandh) discussing the marriage plans with the Brahmin clergy.

The wall is still preserved within the Gurdwara and a celebration is held here every year on the anniversary of Guru Nanak's marriage.

Sati Laxmi Devi Smarak is located in the Smadh road of Batala opposite to Hanuman Akahara, The Smadh of Sati Lakshmi devi is there, who was engaged to Veer Hakikat Rai, When Laxmi Devi heard the news of death of her becoming husband, She became Sati (throw herself in fire and burn to death), her age was 10 years at that time, On that place a big public park is made by Local People on the smadh of Veer Haqiqat Rai and Sati Lakshmi Devi.

Batala is an important industrial town famous for the manufacture of machine tools and woolen products.

Ministry of Railways has accepted in 2010 Budget plan to connect the Batala–Quadian rail link to Jalandhar via Beas Junction.

This project will help connect Batala to high-speed Amritsar–Delhi section and cutting travel time to Jalandhar by 1 hour, with no need to go via Amritsar.

During Ranjit Singh's rule, Qadri family, which was known for its scholarship, used to run a large prominent school in Batala, which used to attract students from as far as Iran and Afghanistan.