The name of the city Jabalpur comes from a combination of the Arabic word Jabal= Mountain and the Sanskrit word Pura = city. Jabal is also the root word in the name of Gibraltar which was originally called Jebel al Tariq (Tariq's Mountain). It is believed that Jabalpur is the tapasya bhumi of a mythological figure known as sage Jabalie, from whom the name Jabalpur is derived. Ashokan relics have been found. Later on it was the capital of the famous Tripuri kingdom in the (9th–10th centuries):-

In AD 875, it was taken over by the Kalachuri dynasty who made Jabalpur their capital. In the 13th century, the Gonds seized it and made it their capital. Inscriptions record the existence during the 11th and 12th centuries of a local line of princes of the Haihai people who are closely connected with the history of Gondwana.

Madan Mahal, the palace of Rani Durgavati in Jabalpur, c.1865.

In the 16th century the Gond raja of Garha-Mandla extended his power over fifty-two districts, including the present Jabalpur. During the minority of his grandson, Asaf Khan, the viceroy of Kara Manikpur, conquered the Garha principality and held it at first as an independent chief. Eventually he submitted to the Mughal emperor Akbar. From time to time, the Mughal rulers tried to overrun it. The legendary Gond Queen Rani Durgavati also died fighting the Mughal forces led by the great Mughal Emperor Akbar.

The Mughal Empire, however, enjoyed little more than a nominal supremacy; and the princes of Garha-Mandla maintained a practical independence until their subjugation by the Maratha governors of Sagar in 1781. In 1798 the Maratha Peshwa granted the Narmada valley to the Bhonsle princes of Nagpur, who continued to hold the district until the British occupied it in 1818 after defeating the Marathas. The British made Jabalpur the commission headquarters of the Narmada territories and established a cantonment here.

Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Raghuvir Simha, born 1877 died 1960, was the last Jagirdar of Juppulpore to whose ancestors the estates were granted in 1764 in perpetuity by descendents of Rani Durgavati for acts of nationalism, patriotism, bravery in the battlefield in wars against Muslim invaders. His ancestor Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Adhar Simha was Rani Durgavati's Prime Minister and her army's Knight-Commander who attained matyrdom fighting Akbar's forces alongside her in the battle of Narrai. Due to a very strong hold amongsts the masses, the hereditary title-prefix of "Beohar" and the Jagirdari were respected by the subsequent Bhoslas of Nagpur, the Peshwas of Saugor, and eventually the British who later became hostile due to the family's patriotism. In memory of Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Raghuvir Simha, Civil Lines (North) is known as "Beohar Bagh" and the road between Collectrate and Adhartal is known as "Beohar Raghuvir Sinha Road".

Under the British Raj, Jabalpur, usually spelt Jubbulpore, became the capital of the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories, which was part of the British North-Western Provinces. At that time it became infamous for the Thuggee murders, but made more famous by the man who suppressed thugee, William Henry Sleeman, who was later appointed commissioner at Jabalpur. Very few know that the actions against the "Thugs" or "Phasigaars" were actually initiated by Rajman-Rajeshri Beohar Dariyav Simha, the then Jagirdar of Jubbulpore, who then handed it over to W.H. Sleeman (then Major). For the noble cause of rehabilitation of thugs' families who were called "gurinds", the Beohar-family allowed their piece of land known as "Gurandi" in the heart of the town. The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories became part of the new Central Provinces in 1861 which in 1903 became the Central Provinces and Berar. By the early 20th Century Jabalpur was the headquarters of a brigade in the 5th division of the Southern Army.

Mahatma Gandhi's longest and most important stay in Jabalpur was in 1933 at the "Beohar Palace" of Beohar Rajendra Simha. Bapu was accompanied by Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Ansari, Nariman, Maulana Azad, etc., and a meeting of AICC/CWC was held at the "Beohar Palace". Mahatma Gandhi's memorabilia of that occasion are still well preserved by the descendents of Beohar-family represented by Beohar Dr Anupam Sinha. An important landmark event was the holding of the Tripuri Congress session in 1939 that was presided over by Subhash Chandra Bose. Politically under Lokmanya Tilak's direction Jhanda Satyagraha was launched with success (who visited 3 times) Mahatma Gandhi visited 4 times and famous Congress session was held at Tripuri (Jabalpur) in 1939 when Subhash Chandra Bose was elected the Congress President against the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi. A memorial Kamania gate was erected in city.

After India's independence in 1947, the Central Provinces and Berar became the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.