It is named after a medicinal plant called "Tandla"(digera arvensis) which was present abundantly near this town.

In 1987, it received the status of sub tehsil when Manzoor Wattoo was elected as MPA from the constituency and later became the CM Punjab.

Lately, Tehsil is linked directly to Sahiwal city by a newly formed bridge on river Ravi.

Tandlianwala stands in the rolling flat plains of northeast Punjab, between longitude 73°13 East, latitude 30°03 North, with an elevation of 183 metres (600 ft) above sea level.

The Ravi River flows about 9 km in the east which is the main source of irrigation meeting the requirements of 90% of cultivated land.

The city is bound on the north by Faisalabad, on the east by Okara, on the south by Sahiwal and Toba Tek Singh and on the west by Samundri.

[6] The Tehsil of Tandlianwala is part of the alluvial plains between the Himalayan foothills and the central core of the Indian subcontinent.

The scalloped interfluves are believed to have been formed during the Late Pleistocene and feature flat-topped river terraces.

The Rakh and Gogera canals have encouraged the water levels in the district however the belt on the river Ravi has remained narrow.

The majority religion is Islam, making up 98.0% of the city with small minorities of Christians (1.8%) and others (0.2%), mainly Sikhs and Ahmadis.

The majority of Muslims belong to Sunni, Hanafi, and Barelvi schools of thought with a minority of Shiites.

Tandlianwala has many popular sports like cricket, football and volleyball, Kabaddi, Wrestling (Kushti), Badminton, Table Tennis, Marshall arts and local desi games.

Tandlianwala is home to a major grain, whole corn and sugar market, and it was popular for chrma mandi which were started by late Haji Ghulam Muhammad paracha mahoon, and now running by his sons haji Bashir ahmad and shabbir aad paracha, Mahi chowk is the main commercial market of the city and aldo known for a dessert Mannpasand.

[10] The city has a number of sites of interest including several colonial-era buildings, a couple hindu mandir (temple), some sikh gurudwara, two major sports stadiums one of them is under construction and a public park.