The History of Hazaribag begins with very early stages of human civilization. There are evidence to show that this area was inhabited even before the Vedic period of our civilization. However, the history of the area is not yet well documented. Since Hazaribag is a part of Chhotanagpur, its history heavily depended on the rise and fall of Chhotanagpur, which later became Jharkhand. The entire territory of Chhotanagpur, known as Jharkhand was presumably beyond the pale of outside influence in ancient India, and so was the case of Hazaribag. Chhotanagpur was annexed with Mugal empire in India in 1585 but soon after the death of Akbar in 1605, the area presumably regained its independence. Ibrahim Khan Fateh Jang, the Governor of Bihar and brother of Queen Noorjehan, defeated and captured Durjan Sal, the 46th Raja of Chotanagpur in 1616. He was imprisoned for 12 years but was later released and reinstated on the throne after he had shown his ability in distinguishing a real diamond from a fake one. In 1632 Chotanagpur was given as Jagir to the Governor at Patna for an annual payment of Rs. 136000. This was raised to Rs. 161000 in 1636 A.D. During the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719-1748), Sarballand Khan, the Governor of then Bihar, marched against the Raja of Chotanagpur and obtained his submission. Another expedition was led by Fakhruddoula, the Governor of Bihar in 1731. He came to terms with the Raja of Chotanagpur. In 1735 Alivardi Khan had some difficulty in enforcing the payment of the annual tribute of Rs. 12000 from the Raja of Ramgarh, as agreed to by the latter according to the terms settled with Fakhruddoula. This situation continued until the occupation of the country by the British. During the Muslim period, the main estates in the district were Ramgarh, Kunda, Chai and Kharagdiha. During Kol rebel in 1831, Ramgarh, Kharagdiha, Kendi and Kunda became parts of the South-West Frontier Agency and were formed into a division named Hazaribag as the administrative headquarters. In 1854 the designation of South - West Frontier Agency was changed to Chota Nagpur and it began to be administered as a Non - regulation province under the Lieutenant Governor of Bihar. After 1991 census, the district of Hazaribag has been divided into three separate districts viz. Hazaribag, Chatra and Koderma.