[2] During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Kingdom of the Videhas became one of the major political and cultural centers of South Asia, along with Kuru and Pañcāla.

After the long and hard struggle of around seventeen years by the people of Kishanganj including social workers, politicians, journalists, businessmen, farmers, etc., the Kishanganj district was carved out of Purnia district on 14 January 1990.

A narrow strip of West Bengal, about 20 km wide separates it from Bangladesh.

[8] Major rivers flowing through the district are Mahananda, Kankai, Mechi, Donk, Ratua.

[8] In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Kishanganj one of the country's 250 most backward districts out of a total of 640.

[14] According to the 2011 census Kishanganj district has a population of 1,690,400,[16] roughly equal to the nation of Guinea-Bissau[17] or the US state of Idaho.