The present name of the city was recorded for the first time in the Charter of Hungarian king Ladislaus II of Jagiellon on February 06, 1494.
Discussions held by philologists and historians resulted in the finding that the city name consisted of an old adjective “banj” (ban's), which disappeared long time ago in our language, but has been preserved only in the name of the city. The noun “luka” (plain) was then added to the possessive adjective. This attributed the meaning ban's plain to the name of the city.
The first telegraph was put into operation in 1866, and the first railway along the Banja Luka-Dobrljin route had been officially set into operation in 1873, only two years prior to the Bosnian and Herzegovinian uprising, due to which it had to be put out of operation.
Under the Austro-Hungarian protectorate Banja Luka became an industry and craft center. The foundations of such a progress were laid by the monks of the Franciscan Monastery Trapisti, which was built during the seventies of the 19th century. They started the construction of a mill, a brewery, brickyard, a fabric factory, and the hydroelectric plant in Delibašino selo as well as the construction of industrial plants for pasta and the famous Trappist cheese.
Within the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians Banja Luka underwent a period of genuine progress. It became the center of the Vrbas Banovina, the administrative unit ruled by ban, and got a significant geo-strategic position in the newly founded country.
The city ows its rapid growth and progress to the first ban, brisk and energetic Svetislav Milosavljević (Svetislav – Tisa Milosavljević, born on September 07, 1882 in Niš, Serbia).
The most severe calamity that befell the city in the post-war period was a disastrous earthquake, which struck the city in October 1969. With its consequences remedied, Banja Luka got its recognizable appearance.
In the wake of the Former Yugoslavia's break-up, Banja Luka was the second biggest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the tenth biggest one in Yugoslavia. According to the 1991 census, Banja Luka had 150 000 inhabitants.