The region of Ghazipur is famous mainly for the production of its unique rose-scented Spray called Gulab Jal, and for the tomb of the Governor General of British India, Lord Cornwallis, who died here.

The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang had stated that a stupa was erected by Ashoka in the memory of Buddha who had been here in the district.

Regarding the nomenclature of Ghazipur there has also been a version that it has its derivation from the word "Ghadi", who happened to be a Hindu king in the 9th century the original name of the place was Gadhipura.

[2][3] According to one story Raja Mandhata was said to have been an heir (descendant) of Prithvi Raj of Delhi and was suffering from a skin disease and wanted to get rid of the affliction by bathing in the tank at Kathot.

Subsequently, his nephew and his successors seized a Muslim girl whose mother got worried for her daughter and as a measure for the safety of her daughter, she appealed to the sultan of Delhi, with the result that a band of forty ghazis under the headship of Ghazi Saiyad Mausaud reached Kathot and captured the fort and slew Raja Mandhata and his nephew.

[2][3][4][5] The region covered by the present district of Ghazipur once formed part of the ancient kingdom of Kashi, a famous centre of Aryan civilization.

A legend states that the Jamadagani Rishi lived near to the present day Zamania town with his wife.

During the two or three centuries preceding the birth of Mahavira and the Buddha, the whole of northern India was divided into sixteen principal states known in early Buddhist and Jain literatures as the Solah Mahajanpada.

In the middle of sixth century the Yashodharman of Malwa, the district had come under his meteoric sovereignty after which it passed under the rule of the Maukharis of Kannauj.

About the close of the tenth century the hold of Gurjar Pratihar king of Kannauj on Ghazipur became nominal.

He came to Jaunpur and punished Nasir Khan and obliged him to flee from Ghazipur, which came into Humayun possession, but he short stayed here as he was recalled by the Emperor Babur to fight against Rajputs and Afghans.

Soon after his return Babur died and his successor Humayun had come to the east where Afghan was rising in which Sher Shah was also included.

The Afghans continued to hold sway in the east, including this district till 1559, Ali Quli Khan urf Khan Zaman subdued the region for his young sovereign and founded the town of Zamania, bringing the district of Ghazipur into his possession.

Both brother belonged to Kamsar region of Ghazipur which back then was a large Raja Zamindarana estate and had many jagirs under it during Mughal and Nawab times.

During Aurangzeb a large part of Ghazipur and Kamsar-O-Bar jagirs were given to Raja Deendar Khan, the founder of Dildarnagar.

It's was during the time the nawabs that area saw a boom in its growth and development ,they also build many monuments here, like Imambara, Mosque , Nawabganj Palace, Nawab Kila burzi, chihal satun, and Qasimabad fort, etc.. After the defeat of combined armies of Avadh, emperor, Mir Qasim, and administrator of Ghazipur Balwant Singh against British battle at Buxar (23 October 1764) a treaty made between Shah Alam and British at Varanasi on 29 October, whereby the province of Banaras including Ghazipur was transferred to East India Company.

In 1765, an agreement made between Robert Clive and Shuja-ud-Daula whereby the latter agreed to restore the territory of Ghazipur to Balwant Singh.

In September 1773, the confirmation of Chait Singh in his paternal state was made by the Shuja-ud-Daula in presence of Warren Haistings.

[2][3][5] The administrative controls were transferred from a deposed Raja Chait Singh to the resident by the revenue policy of Jonathan Dunean.

During the mutiny the garrison at Ghazipur, however was the 65th native infantry which had returned from Burma but had not been affected by the representatives of the rebel leaders.

[2][3][4][5] According to the 2011 census Ghazipur district has a population of 3,620,268,[1] roughly equal to the nation of Lithuania[8] or the US state of Oklahoma.

[1] Ghazipur has a sex ratio of 951 females for every 1,000 males,[1] and a literacy rate of 74.27% (higher than the national average of 74.04%).