The census of 1868 returned the population of Jhelum district at 500,988, inhabiting 113,010 houses, and spread over an area of 3910 square miles. The Mahometans numbered 434,157; Hindus, 49, 111; Sikhs, 13,865; and “others,” 3855. Five towns contained in 1868 a population exceeding 5000 :—Find Dädan Khan, 15,740; Chakwal, 5767; Talâgang, 5767; Lawa, 5256; and Jhelum, 5148. Of a total area of 2,502,290 acres, but 763,845 acres are under cultivation, and only 258,825 acres more are returned as capable of tillage. The staple crops are wheat and bâjra. Trade is chiefly concentrated in the town of Find Dadau Kham The exports are salt, silk and cotton goods, brass and copper wares; the imports, English piece goods and metals, and woollen fabrics from Kashmir and from Central Asia via Peshawar. Salt is procured in immense quantities from the central hills of the Salt Range; the net revenue from this source in 1871-72 amounted to £362,193. The total revenue in .1872-73, excluding salt, was £70,299, of which £59,766 was derived from the land tax. The police force consisted in 1873 of 527 men. For fiscal and administrative purposes the district is subdivided into 4 tahsils and V par garnis, containing 939 estates, and owned by 49,866 proprietors.

The history of the district dates back from the semi-mythical period of the MahΛbhcιrata. Hindu tradition represents the Salt Range as the refuge of the five Pandava brethren during the period of their exile, and every salient point in its scenery is connected with some legend of the national heroes. Modern research has fixed the site of the conflict between Alexander and Porus as within Jhelum district, although the exact point at which the Macedonian king effected the passage of the Jhelum (or Hydaspes) is disputed. After this event, we have little information with regard to the condition of the district until the Mahometan conquest brought back literature and history to Upper India. The Janjιiahs and Jâts, who now hold the Salt Range and its northern plateau respectively, appear to have been the earliest inhabitants. The Ghakkars seem to represent an early wave of conquest from the east, and they still inhabit the whole eastern slope of the district; while the Awans, who now cluster in the western plain, are apparently later invaders from the opposite quarter. The Ghakkars were the dominant race at the period of the first Mahometan incursions, and long continued to retain their independence. During the flourishing period of the Mughal dynasty, the Ghakkar chieftains were among the most prosperous and loyal vassals of the house of Babar; but after the collapse of the Delhi empire Jhelum fell, like its neighbours, under the sway of the Sikhs. In 1765 Gujar Sinh defeated the last independent Ghakkar prince, and reduced the wild mountaineers to subjection. His son succeeded to his dominions, until 1810, when he fell before the irresistible power of Ranjit Sinh. In 1849 the district passed, with the rest of the Sikh territories, into the hands of the British. Ranjit Sinh, however, had so thoroughly subjugated the wild mountain tribes that little difficulty was experienced in reducing it to working order, and the subsequent history of Jhelum has been purely fiscal and administrative.

Jhelum, the headquarters of the above district, situated on the north bank of the Jhelum river, in 32° 55' 26* N. lat. and 73° 46' 36" E. long. The town is quite of modern origin, and in 1868 contained a population of 5148, viz., Mahometans, 2831; Hindus, 1858; Sikhs, 442; Christians, 3; and “others,” 14. The civil lines and cantonments for a regiment of native infantry lie about a mile north of the town, which is noted for boat building.