It was created in December 2016 from areas in the Sadar Hills region which were previously part of Senapati District.

[10] During the late 1950s and 1960s, the Kuki tribes living in the northern hills of Manipur faced large-scale displacement, as a result of the activism of the Naga National Council attempting to homogenise the population in those areas.

The displaced Kuki tribes moved inwards into the state and occupied regions in the Sadar Hills subdivision.

[13] Efforts made by successive governments of Manipur to separate the Sadar Hills subdivisions into an independent district failed.

However, due to opposition from the Nagas, Sadar Hills was not made into a separate district, and continued as part of Manipur North.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the SHDDC and the state government agreeing on a plan of action.

The next day, the United Naga Council (UNC) and the All-Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) imposed a 78-hour shutdown to protest the decision, after which the issue was again put into cold storage.

[20] The Kangpokpi district consists of the hilly region surrounding the northern part of the Imphal Valley on three sides, west, north and east.

[a] In September 2023, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) wrote to the state government stating that the definition of "Hill Areas" was as per the First Schedule of the Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas Committee) Order, 1972, and that all boundary disputes had to be settled as per this definition.

To the west of the Imphal Valley, Mount Koubru, considered historically sacred by the Meitei community, lies in the Saitu-Gamphazol subdivision of the Kangpokpi district.