Azam Jah, the eldest son of the 7th Nizam, held the title of Mirza-Baig ("Prince") of Berar.

It was ceded to Emperor Akbar by Chand Bibi in 1596, who was unable to stand against the imperial forces led by Prince Mirza Murad.

In 1611, the southern provinces of Ahmadnagar, Berar, and Khandesh defied Mughal sovereignty under Malik Ambar.

During Jahangir's rule, Malik Ambar, till his death in 1626, recovered a substantial part of the Deccan from the Mughals including Berar.

Berar was successively overrun by the Mughals after the Mughals appointed the Maratha Senapati Sawai Shri Shriman Santaji Bhonsle Seena Sahib-e-Subah because Santaji was the father-in-law of Mirza Bedarbakht, son of Mirza Azam, and grandson of Aurangzeb.

In 1724, the Nizam-ul-Mulk Asif Jah established the independent line of the Nizams of Hyderabad, and thenceforth the latter claimed to be de jure sovereigns of Berar, with exception of certain districts (Mehkar, Pusad, etc.)

The claim was contested by the Maratha Bhonsla rajas of Nagpur, and for more than half a century the country was devastated by wars between the two.

This condition of things was ended by Wellesley's victories at Assaye and Argaon (1803), which forced the Bhonsla raja to cede his territories south of Gawilgarh and Narnala Fort and east of the Wardha River.

When Berar was no longer protected by its Maratha taskmasters, it remained long prey to the turbulent elements let loose by the sudden cessation of the wars.

After 1865, the American Civil War gave an immense stimulus to Berar's cotton trade, as did the laying of a railway line across the province.

During the famine of 1900, for example, nearly 8.5% of the population died, "with the greatest number of deaths", according to the historian Sven Beckert, "occurring in districts most specialized in cotton production".

[1] Through an agreement signed on 5 November 1902, 6th Nizam Nawab Mir Mahbub Ali Khan leased Berar permanently to the British against an annual payment of 25 lakhs Rupees.