Kartarpur, which means 'Town/ City of God', is a town near Jalandhar city and is located in the Doaba region of the state. It was founded by Sri Guru Arjan Sahib Ji. Kartarpur (in Jalandhar ) is not the same as the Kartarpur founded by Sri Guru Nanak Sahib Ji (which is now across the Pakistan border opposite Dera Baba Nanak).

Kartarpur is famous for its furniture industry. It lays 15 km north-west of Jallandar along the GT Road. The town was founded by Guru Arjan in 1594 on land granted during the reign of Emperor Akbar. Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, resided here for some time too. Two of Guru Hargobind's sons, Suraj Mal and Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, were married at Kartarpur.

In April 1635, the 'faujdar' or garrison commander of Jalandhar, at the instigation of Painda Khan, a former protege of Guru Hargobind, turned hostile and attacked Kartarpur. After a battle lasting three days in which the Guru's youngest son, Guru Tegh Bahadur, displayed feats of valour, Guru Hargobind left the town and retired with his family and other Sikhs to the hill resort of Kiratpur.

Guru Hargobind's young grandson, Dhir Mall, however, would neither leave Kartarpur nor part with the Holy Granth, the original copy of Guru Granth Sahib. He stayed behind and declared himself Guru forming his own sect and collecting income from land as well as from offerings made by Sikhs to the Holy Granth. Dhir Mall's decendants called Sodhis of Kartarpur that became the owners of the place and the sacred Gurdwaras located here.

The Dhirmallia sect was rejected by Sri Guru Gobind Singh, who forbade the Sikhs to have any dealings with them. The Sodhis of Kartarpur later returned to the Sikh fold accepting vows of the Khalsa. In 1757, Ahmad Shah Durrani attacked and ransacked Kartarpur. He burnt down the sacred Gurdwara Sri Tham Sahib and forced Sodhi Vadbhag Singh (d. 1762) to flee and find refuge in the hills of Una. The Sikhs soon avenged the desecration and re-established the Gurdwaras when they came to power in the Punjab, during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.