Pathankot district, is the northernmost district of the Indian state of Punjab. Pathankot city is the district headquarters. The district was created on 27 July 2011. Etymology The original name of Pathankot was Paithan during the Mughal times, which is in turn believed to be a derivative of Sanskrit Pratisthana.The suffix 'kot' stands for fort. Geography It is located in the foothills of the Sivalik Hills. It shares international borders with the Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab. It also shares borders with the Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir and Chamba and Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh. Hoshiarpur district shares a boundary with Pathankot in Eastern Punjab. The two main rivers – Beas and Ravi, pass through the district. History In the Vedic period monarchy was the form of government but from the Mahabharata period onwards we find traces of republic form of government in our country - according to Mahabharata the present Himachal Pradesh was divided into a number of small tribal republics. Panini (5th century B.C.) in his Ashtadhyayi mentioned some of the republics settled there. The Janpadas mentioned in the Mahabharata and also known to Panini are the Trigarthas, the Kulutas and Kulindas. In Shanti Parva and Sabha Parva of the Mahabharata the name of the Audambra is found mentioned at the end of the list of republic Janpadas. It is stated that the rajas of Audumbra accompanied the rajas of Kashmir, Darda and Trigarta to pay Nazaranas to the Pandava king Yudhisthira. The reference of the Audumbras is also found in Vishnu Puran, Vayu Puran, Brihat Samhita, Satapatha Brahmana and Ganpatha etc. The state of Audumbra was lying in between the two rivers Parshini/Aravati and Vipasa, now known as Ravi and Beas, comprising entirety of Nurpur Tehsil, Tehsil of Pathankot and a large tract of plains of district Gurdaspur with its capital at Pratishthan that is present Pathankot. Most likely one of the oldest sites in the Punjab, Pratishthan (present Pathankot) was advantageously situated on the great commerce route of ancient times, which ran from Pataliputra (Patna) of Magadha state to Takshashila and further to the central Asia under the foothills. During the invasion of Alexander in 326 BCE. the state of Audambra was ruled by the Katha Kshatriyas, who had a reputation as skilled warriors. After crossing the river Ravi, Alexander entered the territory of Audumbra State and invested Sangala a stronghold of Kathas of