Ahmednagar District was created after the defeat of the Maratha Empire in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, when most of the Peshwa's domains were annexed to British India.

The district along with its namesake city were renamed to Ahilyanagar in 2023 by the government of Eknath Shinde, in honour of Ahilyabai Holkar, the Rani of Indore; the move faced some criticism.

[2][3] In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Ahmednagar one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).

A role model of water conservation work can be seen at Ralegaon Siddhi, which is also called the Ideal Village.

Newase where Dnyaneshwari was written, Shri Saibaba's Shirdi, one of Ashtavinayaks at Siddhatek, the famous Kanifnath temple, attract devotees.

[8] In the 2011 census Ahmednagar district recorded a population of 4,543,159,[10] roughly equal to the nation of Costa Rica[11] or the US state of Louisiana.

[13] At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 88.89% of the population in the district spoke Marathi, 4.74% Hindi and 2.74% Urdu as their first language.

There are many Muslim monuments like salabat khan's Tomb known as chandbibi, Faria Baug, Ground Fort and many dargas (mosques), and they are found in main town and cities.

Christian missionaries, particularly from the United States of America, arrived in early 19th century when the British parliament allowed proselytizing in areas under the control of the East India Company.