Dhubri's history is deeply intertwined with the ancient kingdom of Kamrupa and the subsequent medieval conflicts between the Ahoms and the Mughals. The region was a prominent frontier territory. In 1505, Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru, visited Dhubri. Over a century later, in 1670, the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, arrived alongside the Mughal army of Raja Ram Singh during an expedition to Assam. Guru Tegh Bahadur famously brokered a peace settlement between the Mughals and the Ahoms. To commemorate this, he requested soldiers to bring earth in their shields to create a mound of peace, upon which the historic Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib now stands.
During British rule, Dhubri's strategic location on the Brahmaputra made it a crucial commercial transit point. In 1879, it was made the headquarters of the erstwhile Goalpara district. The Dhubri Municipal Board was established in 1883, making it one of the oldest municipalities in Assam. The British developed it into a major inland river port to transport jute and timber directly to Calcutta (Kolkata).
The Partition of India in 1947 profoundly affected Dhubri. The severing of direct railway and waterway routes through East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) led to a severe economic decline, isolating the town from its traditional markets. In modern times, the city has slowly rebuilt its trade networks and cultural infrastructure, maintaining its status as a vital frontier city.