During the period of Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, a fort was built at modern day Ludhiana.

The name was originally Lodhi-ana", meaning "Lodhi town", which has since shifted from "Lodiana" to the present form of Ludhiana.

[17] The Lodhi Fort, or "Purana Qila", is the only surviving structure in the city from this period; located in the neighbourhood of Fatehgarh, it was well-maintained under Ranjit Singh and the British after him, but then fell into disrepair.

[19] Ludhiana's Old City includes landmarks like the Lodhi Fort, Daresi Grounds, The Clock Tower, & Sood Family Haveli.

The new city primarily consists of the Civil Lines area which was historically known as the residential and official quarters of the colonial British encampment.

Legend has it that a tunnel connects it to the fort in Phillaur– although why this should be is debatable, as the Sutlej was the traditional dividing line between the principalities, often occupied by enemy forces (see History section).

[citation needed] The tree of largest natural extraction was the kikar, or Acacia Indica, but has been supplanted by the eucalyptus, transplanted from rural Australia in the late 1950s by the Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon.

The official weather station for the city is in the compound of the Civil Surgeon's Office to the west of Ludhiana.

[35]: 32  It changed post-partition with a drastic reduction in Muslim percentage and simultaneous increase in Hindu and Sikh population, owing to migration of people between West and East Punjab.

Many parts used in German cars such as Mercedes and BMW are exclusively produced in Ludhiana to satisfy the world requirement.

Ludhiana is also famous for its industry of shawls and stoles and satisfies the demand of major domestic and international brands.

Ludhiana also has a growing IT sector with multiple software services and product companies having development centers in the city.

In April 2021, BizMerlinHR, a HR management software firm with development center in Ludhiana was awarded Cool Vendor in HCM for 2021 by industry analyst Gartner.

Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana hosts a number of sporting events including athletics, football, badminton, basketball, gymnastics, handball, kabaddi, table tennis, volleyball, as well as other indoor games.

The city is very well connected with daily or weekly trains to most places in India including the major cities of Jammu, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Pathankot, Kanpur, Jaipur, Ajmer, Chandigarh, Ambala, Panipat, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Ahmadabad, Nagpur, Ayodhya, Nanded, Patna, and Kolkata.

Vande Bharat Express has a stop at Ludhiana junction on its New Delhi (NDLS) – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) route.

Moving around inside the city is done mostly by auto-rickshaws, and cycle rickshaws, while latest Ludhiana BRTS was planned to be constructed but due to lack of funds allotted and weak planning and management the project too has been scrapped by the government thus worsening the traffic problems in the industrial city.

The auto rickshaws are easily available at every major place, including the interstate bus terminal and the railway station at a nominal fare which varies from ₨ 10 to ₨ 30.

[citation needed] Jugnoo, an on demand auto rickshaw application launched its operations in February 2015 to provide low cost, reliable, 24×7 service to the citizens of Ludhiana.

The rickshaw or tricycle is pulled by a person and is a relatively cheap way of travelling in the city, but has become pricey after the autos have been scrapped.

[65] Ludhiana has 363 senior secondary, 367 high, 324 middle, 1129 primary, and pre-primary recognised Schools, with a total of 398,770 students.

16 of 2005 notified in the Punjab Government Gazette on 9 August 2005 and it started functioning 21 April 2006 for promoting livestock production, health and prevention of disease through integrated teaching, research and extension programmes.

Christian Medical College is a major and reputed tertiary care hospital in India, also the location of the world's first face transplant.