One thana was established in the village of Phurunbari in Goral mouza and encompassed parts of the present-day subdistricts of Kaliganj, Hatibandha and Aditmari.

In 1304 BS (c. 1897 AD), the Bengal Dooars Railway was established and the thana was relocated from Phurunbari to Kaliganj in need of good communication.

Kaliganj takes its name from Raja Kaliprasad Raichaudhury of the Ghosal clan, who was the erstwhile zamindar of Tushbhandar.

[6] Mahendra Ranjan Chaudhury, the Zamindar of Kakina, fell into debt from moneylenders and government revenue and his zamindari was auctioned in 1925.

On 15 December 1983, Kaliganj thana was made an upazila (sub-district) as part of the President of Bangladesh Hussain Muhammad Ershad's decentralisation programme.

Kaliganj had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 46.00%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 1009 females per 1000 males.

[11] Kaliganj Upazila is divided into eight union parishads: Bhotemari, Chalbala, Chandrapur, Dalagram, Goral, Kakina, Madati, and Tushbhandar.