According to mythological story, In Dawpar yug Lord Krishana took the way of district at the time of going to Kurukshetra war from Hastinapur and in this way he sited under the trees of Barne in Hunuman Dham Shamli and took the sweet water from the old well.Hence was named after him as “Shyama vali" later “Shyama” and finally to be known as Shamli. Another myth describes that during the times of Ramayan, while Lord Veer Hanuman was taking the whole Dronachal Parvat with ‘Sanjeevali Booti’ from Himalay to Lanka for saving life of Lakshman, a piece of hill to be fallen off at this place which is now called ‘Hanuman Tilla’.

As a bank of Indian culture, it is a very important place. Shamli city has an agriculture and industry based economy where sugarcane is the main crop. There are 3 major sugar mills located at Shamli, Oon and Thanabhawan. Shamli is known worldwide for its Rim-Axle industry which also got selected under Uttar Pradesh Governments One District One Product Scheme. There are three Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Shamli district: Shamli, kairana, and Thanabhawan. All of these are part of Kairana Lok Sabha constituency.Shamli district is divided into 3 tehsils: Shamli, Kairana, and Oon.