UMBALLA or AMBALA, a city and district of British India, in the Punjab. The city is 3 m. E. of the river Ghaggar, 902 ft. above the sea. Pop. (1931), 86,592. It has a station on the North-Western railway, with a branch line to Kalka at the foot of the hills (39 m.), which was continued up to Simla in 1903. Umballa owes its importance to a large military cantonment which was first established in 1843. The cantonment, which lies 4 m. south-east of the native town, is well laid out with broad roads.
The DISTRICT OF UMBALLA has an area of 1,882 sq.m. With one small exception it consists of a level alluvial plain, sloping away gradually from the foot of the Himalayas, and lying between the rivers Jumna and Sutlej. These rivers do not materially affect the district, which has a drainage system consisting of the numer ous torrents which pour down from the hills. The principal of the northern streams is the Ghaggar, into which the minor streams empty themselves, some within and some beyond the limits of the district. The Ghaggar is the only perennial stream within the dis trict, but dwindles to a tiny rivulet in the dry season, and dis appears altogether beyond the border of the district. In 1931 the
population was 742,902. The principal crops are wheat, maize, pulse, millets, rice, cotton and some sugar-cane. There are fac tories for ginning and pressing cotton, and also for grinding wheat.
Two opposite corners of the district are watered by the Sirhind and the Western Jumna canals. Umballa is one of the territories previously held by numerous Sikh sirdars, which were attacked by Ranjit Singh. This caused the movement of British troops in 1809 which resulted in the treaty with Ranjit Singh, by which he was required to withdraw his army from the left bank of the Sutlej. In June 1849, after the second Sikh War had brought the Punjab under British rule, the chiefs were deprived of all sovereign power. In March 1869 a grand durbar was held at Umballa on the occasion of the visit of the amir Shere Ali.