[1] According to Irfan Habib, Qāsimbāzār is probably named after Qāsim Khān, who was governor of Bengal Subah early during the reign of Shah Jahan.

The area shown in the map alongside, covering Berhampore and Kandi subdivisions, is spread across both the natural physiographic regions of the district, Rarh and Bagri.

[7] The ruins of Karnasubarna, the capital of Shashanka, the first important king of ancient Bengal who ruled in the 7th century, is located 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) south-west of Berhampore.

The first European traders set up factories here, and after the ruin of Satgaon due to the silting up of the mouth of the Saraswati river, it gained a position as the great trading centre of Bengal, which was not challenged until after the foundation of Calcutta.

The proximity of the factory to Murshidabad, the capital of the Nawabs of Bengal, while it was the main source of its wealth and of its political importance, exposed it to a constant risk of attack.

At the beginning of the 19th century the city still flourished; as late as 1811 it was described as famous for its silks, hosiery, koras and beautiful ivory work.

However, its once healthy climate gradually worsened, and, probably because of endemic malaria, the area of cultivated land round it shrank drastically.

[1] Of its splendid buildings the fine palace of the Maharaja of Cossimbazar alone remained, the rest being in ruins or represented only by great mounds of earth.

It houses two Christian cemeteries, an Armenian Church and two colonial styled mansions of local landlords one of which have been converted into a heritage hotel.