The sanjak existed from its formation in 1863 until its conquest in the First Balkan War and reorganization in 1915 as the Preveza Prefecture of the Kingdom of Greece.

Ali Pasha of Ioannina conquered the town in 1798 and made it part of his de facto independent Pashalik of Yanina until his fall in 1822.

Following the Great Eastern Crisis in the 1870s, the Ottoman Empire conceded to the 1881 Convention of Constantinople to avoid continued revolts and war with Greece and possibly others.

[1] During the First Balkan War of 1912–1913, the sanjak was occupied by the Greek Army[1] but the new Governorate of Epirus kept the Ottoman administration and officials in place until Preveza Prefecture was established by the Royal Decree of 3/16 March 1915.

The Ottoman kazas were renamed subgovernates (υποδιοικήσεις, ypodioikíseis) and overseen by governate commissioners (διοικητικοί επίτροποι, dioikitikoí epítropoi) nominated by the governor-general of Epirus in Ioannina.