During the Middle Ages, including 1408, it was part of the district of Luka and it belonged to the estates of the Šubić family.

[8] In 1550 the wider area of Kistanje was part of the djamaat of knez Bijoviče, son of Vučko with whom most probably arrived Orthodox population.

After the Kuridža's rebellion in 1704, the village was renamed Kvartir (Quartier),[9] before being mentioned again as Kistanje (Chistagne) in the course of the 18th century.

The village remained under the control of so called Republic of Serbian Krajina until 1995, when it suffered heavy damage in battle, and some of the local civilians were killed (see Varivode massacre), while others fled.

[11] According to Nikodim Milaš, the Orthodox church dedicated to St. Nicholas was built between 1524 and 1537, but these dates are based on the questionable chronicle of Simeon Končarević.

[12] The church was of pre-Ottoman origin and Roman Catholic in the early 16th century before conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy.

[8] The Croatian theologian Stanko Bačić considered Milaš's conclusions to be a product of his imagination, arguing that the village was settled by Roman Catholics until the beginning of the Cretan War, in the mid-17th century.