Nuapada District has three Notified Area Councils: Khariar, Khariar Road, and Nuapada, six tehsils in addition to villages, such as Gandabahali, Tukla, Hatibandha, Duajher, Bargaon, Tarbod, Udyanbandh,Singjhar,Brahmanpada,Karngamal,Sarabong,Dharambandha,Lakhna,Sunabeda,Beltukri,Bhela,Niljee, and Larka.

During 4th century CE, when Samudra Gupta led his campaign through this region a king named Vyaghraraja was ruling over Mahakantara.

This region came under the occupation of the Somavamsis of South Kosala during the 8th century CE when Mahaivagupta Balarjuna was ruling from his headquarters at Sripur.

In the 9th century CE when the Somavamsis were ousted from the Sripur region and organized a new kingdom in Sonepur-Sambalpur tract, the Kalahandi portion continued to be under their rule.

His son Udyotakesari divided this dominion and placed the western part (Kosala) under the rule of a collateral branch.

The stone inscription at Narla reveals that one Madanamahadeva was ruling over Kamalmandala in 1231 CE apparently as a feudatory of the Gangas.

If the tradition is to be believed it may be said that the Nagas ruled over Kamalmandala as feudatories of the Gangas till 14th century CE after which they owed allegiance to the Suryavamshi Gajapatis.

The earliest reference to the name Kalahandi is found in the Dadhivaman temple inscription dated in Yugabda 4819, i.e., CE 1718.

This territory assumed independence after the downfall of the Gajapatis of Orissa in 1568 CE According to tradition the Kalahandi kingdom commanded sovereign power over eighteen garhs before it was occupied by the Bhonsles of Nagpur in the middle of the 18th century CE In 1803 when the Marathas were defeated by the British and the coastal regions of Orissa as well as the Patna-Sambalpur group of states came under the British, Kalahandi, very probably, continued under the Marathas.

But Kalahandi continued to be under Maratha rule till 1853, when the Nagpur state lapsed to the British Crown as Raghuji III died without an heir.

The plains of Nuapada subdivision are fringed by rugged hill ranges stretching southward, which belong to the main line of the Eastern Ghats and contain extensive plateaus of about 4000 ft (1200 m) in elevation.