Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of 240 km2 (93 sq mi),[4] is surrounded by the Himalayas in the north and the northern plains in the south.

According to local tradition, Jammu is named after its founder, Raja Jambulochan, who is believed to have ruled the area in the 9th century.

Jammu city is situated on a series of uneven ridges of low heights in the Shivalik hills.

Raja Bhim Dev is prominently mentioned in the Delhi chronicles as a supporter of Mubarah Shah (r. 1421–1434) against Jasrat.

[19] In the Mughal chronicles of Babur in the early 16th century, Jammu is mentioned as a powerful state in the Punjab hills.

Emperor Akbar brought the hill kingdoms of the region under Mughal suzerainty, but the kings enjoyed considerable political autonomy.

Its ascent reached its peak under his successor, Raja Ranjit Dev (r. 1728–1780), who was widely respected among the hill states.

[21][22] Ranjit Dev promoted religious freedom and security, which attracted many craftsmen and traders to settle in Jammu, contributing to its economic prosperity.

[26] In 1818 Raja Kishore Singh, father of Raja Gulab Singh, was appointed and anointed the ruler of Jammu principality, and hence started the Jamwal dynasty, aka Dogra dynasty, which came to rule the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under British suzerainty.

Jammu, like the rest of north-western India, features a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with extreme summer highs reaching 46 °C (115 °F), and temperatures in the winter months occasionally falling below 4 °C (39 °F).

Average yearly precipitation is about 1,400 mm (55 in) with the bulk of the rainfall in the months from June to September, although the winters can also be rather wet.

Following the hot season, the monsoon lashes the city with heavy downpours along with thunderstorms; rainfall may total up to 669 mm (26.3 in) in the wettest months.

The new Jammu Tawi station opened in October 1972 and is an origination point for express trains.

Jammu Airport operates daily 30 arrival and departure of flights which are served by Go First, Air India, SpiceJet, IndiGo and Vistara.

It is also a focal point for the pilgrims going to Vaishno Devi and Kashmir valley as it is second last railway terminal in North India.

All the routes leading to Kashmir, Poonch, Doda and Laddakh start from Jammu city.

Places of interest include old historic palaces like Mubarak Mandi Palace, Purani Mandi, Rani Park, Amar Mahal, Bahu Fort, Raghunath Temple, Ranbireshwar Temple, Karbala, Peer Meetha, Old city.

[39] The city of Jammu had a significant Muslim population prior to the Partition of India, 30.4 per cent by the 1941 census.

The killings were carried out by extremist Hindus and Sikhs, allegedly orchestrated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and aided and abetted by the state forces and the Maharaja Hari Singh.

Many prominent Punjabi residents in Pakistan, including politician Chaudhry Amir Hussain, economist Mahbub ul Haq, Air Marshal Asghar Khan, journalist Khalid Hasan and singer Malika Pukhraj were from Jammu.

Pickles typical of Jammu are made of kasrod, girgle, mango with saunf, jimikand, tyaoo, seyoo, and potatoes.

Jammu cuisine features various chaats, especially gol gappas, kachalu, Chole bhature, gulgule, rajma kulche and dahi palla, among various others.

According to records, approximately 31,619 Hindu families had migrated from Pakistan administered Jammu and Kashmir to India.