[3][4] Undivided Dinajpur district was part of the Pundra and Gauda Kingdom of ancient Bengal.

The whole of Pundra was part of the Maurya Empire, and Jainism was spread in the region in the fourth century BCE.

Their capital was at Pundrabardhan (now in Bangladesh), and two other ancient towns were Gourpur and Kotibarsha, now called Bangarh.

In 1586, Mughal Emperor Akbar conquered Bengal and Dinajpur was controlled by the sarkars of Tajpur and Panjara.

With the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, some Bengali-speaking areas from Bihar were added to this district.