Some historians link the name of the district to the 24th and last Jain tirthankara, Mahavira Vardhamana, who came to preach in the area.

It was a forward frontier zone in the progress of Aryanisation by the people in the Upper Gangetic valley.

Microliths found at Birbhanpur, near Durgapur, indicate settlements in the Ajay valley in the Paleolithic/ Mesolithic age, around 5,000 BC.

[4][5] In early historical times Bardhamanbhukti, a part of the Rarh region, was ruled successively by the Magadhas, Mauryas, Kushanas and Guptas.

[3] The early Muslim rulers ruled over major parts of Bengal from Gauda or Lakhnauti.

There are remains of the period at Shymarupar Garh and Ichhai Ghosher deul in Kanksa CD Block.

[3] After the victory of the British in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the fertile district of Bardhaman, along with Medinipur and Chittagong, was ceded to the East India Company.

At the time of the Permanent Settlement of Lord Cornwallis in 1793, the chaklas were reduced in size, in order to make them more manageable, and districts were created.

[12] The rocky undulating topography with laterite soil found in Paschim Bardhaman district is a sort of extension of the Chota Nagpur plateau.

There are 16 police stations, 8 development blocks, 2 municipal corporations, 62 gram panchayats in this district.

Asansol Sadar subdivision Asansol Sadar subdivision has 10 police stations, 4 community development blocks, 4 panchayat samitis, 35 gram panchayats, 181 mouzas, 165 inhabited villages, 1 municipal corporation, 3 municipalities and 26 census towns+1 (partly).

The census towns are: Chittaranjan, Hindustan Cables Town, Domohani, Bhanowara, Majiara, Pangachhiya, Charanpur, Kunustara, Topsi, Nimsa, Chinchuria, Kenda, Parasia, Ratibati, Chapui, Jemari (J.K. Nagar Township), Banshra, Belebathan, Chelad, Murgathaul, Amkula, Baktarnagar, Egara, Sahebganj, Raghunathchak, Ballavpur and Kendra Khottamdi (partly).

The census towns are: Siduli, Khandra, Chak Bankola, Ukhra, Mahira, Dakshin Khanda, Parashkol, Kajora, Harishpur, Palashban, Dignala, Andal (gram), Ondal, Baska, Bilpahari, Ramnagar, Dalurband, Baidyanathpur, Mahal, Konardihi, Nabgram, Sankarpur, Haripur, Chhora, Bahula, Mandarbani, Banagram, Sirsha, Nabaghanapur, Sarpi, Ichhapur, Arra, Gopalpur, Bamunara, Amlajora, Kanksa, Debipur, Prayagpur and Kendra Khottamdi (part).

[26] According to the 2011 census, 58.18% of the population in what is now Paschim Bardhaman district spoke Bengali, 26.78% Hindi, 7.64% Urdu and 4.47% Santali as their first language.

In 1774, John Sumner and Suetonius Grant Heatly of the British East India Company found coal near Ethora, presently in Salanpur CD Block.

[31][32] Narayankuri ghat, on the Damodar, was used by Carr Tagore & Company for transporting coal to Kolkata by boat in the middle of the nineteenth century.

In order to capture the lucrative coal transport business, East Indian Railway laid lines up to Raniganj in 1855.

[33] The Howrah-Delhi main line via Asansol and Patna of East Indian Railway was made operable in 1871 and the Grand Chord from Sitarampur to Mughalsarai was completed in 1901, shortening the travel distance between Howrah and Delhi.

[42] Durgapur Barrage was built by Damodar Valley Corporation in 1955 and handed over, along with the canal network, to the Government of West Bengal in 1964.

[9][41] Between 2001 and 2007 Durgapur saw the setting up of around a dozen middle to large scale industrial investment in iron and steel manufacturing sector.

Various groups of scrupulous individuals are digging mine shafts and extracting coals illegally which are sold to the small scale industries at less than government rates.

The illegal sand mining at Damodar river has damaged the natural flow of the river, caused due to rise in demand for construction of houses and factories recently The district has a number of colleges imparting education in engineering, management, medicines, law, science and other technological and general courses.