Jhelum District is a district within the Rawalpindi Division of Punjab, Pakistan, located on both the Pothohar Plateau and the Indus Plain of northern Punjab. It is one of the oldest districts of Punjab, being established on 23 March 1849. It borders the districts of Chakwal, and Rawalpindi to the west; Khushab to the south; Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, and Sargodha to the east, along the Jhelum River; and Mirpur to the north.

Jhelum is known for providing many soldiers to the British and later to the Pakistan armed forces due to which it is also known as the 'city of soldiers' or 'land of martyrs and warriors'. Salt is quarried at the Khewra Salt Mine in the Salt Range. There are two coal mines in the district from which the North-Western railway used to obtain part of its supply. These are the only coal mines in Punjab province which are in working condition. The chief center of the salt trade is Pind Dadan Khan. The district is crossed by the main line of the North-Western railway and also traversed along the south by a branch line.

The district of Jhelum, which covers an area of 3,587 square kilometres (1,385 sq mi), Jhelum City is the main city of the district. District is administratively divided into following tehsils:

The history of the district dates back to the Hindu mythological period of the Mahabharata. The epic 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, though the exact spot at which the Macedonian king affected the passage of the Jhelum (or Hydaspes) has been hotly disputed. The Panhwars, Janjuas and Jats, who now hold the Salt Range and its northern plateau respectively, appear to have been the earliest inhabitants.

The Janjuas, who appear to represent the oldest breed of Punjab and who still inhabit a large tract in the east of the District; while the Awans and Ghakars who cluster in the western plain, are apparently later invaders, the Janjuas were the dominant race during the before and early Muslim era and they long continued to retain their independence until the time of Sikh invaders, both in Jhelum itself and in the neighboring District of Rawalpindi.

In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, he conquered the Shahis in Kabul in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of northern Punjab region. The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region, which is also reflected in Jhelum.

Jhelum district was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–1849. During British rule, Jhelum was a district of Rawalpindi Division, and was larger than the current district of Jhelum. On 1 April 1904, the tehsil of Talagang was detached from the District and incorporated with the new District of Attock. According to the Gazetteer of the Jhelum District of 1904, 88.7% of the population were Muslim.

The old Jhelum district (minus Talagang) covered an area of 2,813 square miles (7285 km²) and included Chakwal Tehsil – it was bordered by Shahpur and Attock to the west, and by Rawalpindi to the north – the Jhelum River separated it from Kashmir to the north-east and from Gujrat and Shahpur to the south-east and south.