The name of the district originated from the word 'Seona' (Gudina arborea), a species of tree commonly found in the area.

[1] An early copper inscription found in Seoni is a land grant from Vakataka king Pravarasena II in the 3rd century CE.

Bakht Buland Shah gave the Dongartal region to Raj Khan, an Afghan adventurer, as governor.

He also put his relative Raja Ram Singh in charge of Seoni region, who built a fort at Chhapara.

Raj Khan took part of modern Bhandara district, preseumably at the instigation of Bakht Buland Shah.

Raghoji offered Khan the entirety of Seoni to govern if he relinquished the part of Bhandara he conquered, which he accepted.

During one of his absences in Nagpur, the Raja of Mandla took over Chhapara but Khan quickly drove him out and established the Wainganga and Thanwar as borders of the two kingdoms.

Gonds also regularly attacked the district, and due to his inability to control them Amin's son Md.

Although he tried to regain his hereditary land in Dongartal, Zamin died and his widow received a village near Seoni Modern Bori Kalan.

A Kharak Bharti Gosain was then given the government of the region by Raghoji but proved to be so oppressive the revenue fell and many areas were depopulated.

The British raised a police force to counter Gond attacks and made landlords responsible for security of the roads.

[3] The northern and western portions include the plateaus of Lakhnadon and Seoni; the eastern section consists of the watershed and elevated basin of the Wainganga; and in the south-west is a narrow strip of rocky land known as Dongartal.

The plateaus of Seoni and Lakhnadon vary in height from 1,800 to 2,000 ft.; they are well cultivated and clear of jungle, and their temperature is always moderate and healthy.

[3] Geologically the north part of Seoni consists of trap hills and the south of crystalline rock.

[3] The chief river is the Wainganga, with its affluents the Sagar, Theli, Bijna and Thanwar; other streams are the Timar and the Sher, tributaries of the Narmada.

The main crops grown in Seoni are rice, wheat, maize, chickpea (gram), and soybean.

[1] The River Bainganga's source is located beneath the village Mundara, where it includes for example the Pench Tiger Reserve within 10 km.

Chinkara are present in very small numbers and are found in open areas around Turia, Telia, and Dudhgaon villages.

Seoni railway station and its goods yard work as an important agricultural export hub.

[6] According to the 2011 census Seoni District has a population of 1,379,131,[8] roughly equal to the nation of Eswatini[9] or the US state of Hawaii.

The major hindu castes include Powar, Brahmin, Rajput, Lodhi, Kunbi, Teli etc.