Gurdaspur is a city in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort (later turned into a Brahman monastery) which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals. Economy A branch of the North Western Railway runs through the district. The largest town and chief commercial centre is Batala. There are important woollen mills at Dhariwal, and besides their products the district exports cotton, sugar, grain and oil-seeds.