Jabalpur is in Madhya Pradesh. The earliest reference of the city goes back to the time of Mahabharata where there is a mention of the place. Relics from the Ashokan period from 300 BCE have been found 84 km from the city in Rupnath. This confirms the theory that Mauryan Empire was based in this region during 322 BCE to 220 CE. The city was thereafter a part of the Satavahana Dynasty during 230 BCE to 220 CE. Following this it was a part of the Gupta Empire.

The Kalchuri dynasty took over Jabalpur in AD 875 and made it their capital. There are two versions to the name of Jabalpur. One suggests that the name comes from a combination of the Arabic Jabal which means rock and the Sanskrit Pur that means a city. The other version is that the name is after the saint Jabali. During the 13^th century Jabalpur was the capital of the Gonds while in 16^th century Jabalpur was converted into Gondwana, a powerful kingdom. Thereafter Mughal forces invaded Jabalpur where the Gond Queen Durgavati died defending her city. In 1789 the Marathas had won it while in 1817 Jabalpur went under the British control. Since then Jabalpur has been a cantonment. Although Jabalpur does have an airfield, there are very few flights to the place. Therefore, while the best way to reach Jabalpur is by air, rail might be a better choice just in case there is a lack of connectivity by air.

Jabalpur is well connected by road to Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. One can cover the distance of 830 km from Jabalpur to Delhi in 14h 23 min via NH44. It will take around 20 h to cover the distance of 1100 km to Mumbai via NH52. Similarly, if you take the NH 19 it will take you 23 h to cover the 1120 km distance to Kolkata from Jabalpur.  

Jabalpur has excellent rail connectivity with the rest of the country. The connectivity of Mumbai with Jabalpur consists of 5 trains that run between the two while during the week there are a total of 35 trains. The fastest train takes 14h 55m to cover the distance of 997 km. Similarly, the distance between Jabalpur and New Delhi is 909 km. The last train to leave for Jabalpur from New Delhi is the Superfast Express. It takes around 15 hours to cover the journey. The distance between Jabalpur and Howrah in Kolkata is 1152 km. The fastest train takes 20 h to cover this distance.

Six cities in India are presently connected to Jabalpur by air. Three domestic airlines depart from Jabalpur. These are Alliance Air, Spice Jet and Air India. The distance between the airport and city is 10 km. There are local conveyances to take one to the airport from the city.

There are auto rickshaws and taxis in the city. However, there are inter-bus services that one can avail within the city. It is believed that Jabalpur has launched a City Transport Service for providing transportation that is both efficient and affordable.