The history of Sahibganj begins from time immemorial. It centers mainly around the history of Rajmahal, Teliagarhi Fort and Sahibganj Town itself. It is also inseparable from the history of its parent district of Santhal Pargana with its headquarters at Dumka. To know its history one needs to know also the histories of Godda, Dumka, Deoghar and Pakur districts of Jharkhand, because all are inter - related. There are reasons to believe and we find mention of certain evidence that the area has been inhabited since time immemorial. The earliest settlers of this area are Malers (Mal Paharia). They inhabited mainly the areas of Rajmahal hills. This community still reside in some areas of the same hills. Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador of Selukus Nikater came here in the vicinity of Rajmahal hills in 302 BC. He mentioned this community as "Malli" Agian, Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese traveller, wrote in his travellogue about this area after visiting here in 645 AD. He mentioned the Fort of Teliagarhi, when he saw the lofty bricks and stone tower not far from the Ganges. This place was earlier a Buddh Vihar, a shrine for Buddhists. However, we do not know much about the ancient history due to lack of records. A fare amount of recorded history of the district is available from the 13th Century when Teliagarhi became the main gateway of Muslim armies marching to and from Bengal. During the Turkish dynasty rule in Delhi, Malik Ikhtiaruddin-bin-Bakhtiar Khilji marched towards Bengal and Assam trough Teliagrahi pass. He captured Bengal and its king Lakshaman Sena fled away to Cooch Behar. In 1538, Sher Shah Suri and Humayun came face to face for a decisive battle near Teliagarhi. The battle of Rajmahal was fought on 12th July 1576. Mughals won the battle and extended their rule to Bengal. Rajmahal became the capital of Bengal in 1592. It was Man Singh, the general of Akbar, who in the capacity of Viceroy of Bengal and Bihar made Rajmahal the capital of Bengal. It lost the status of capital in 1608 after Dacca was made capital of Bengal. Shortly after this, Teliagarhi and Rajmahal witnessed a fierce battle between the rebellious Prince Shahjahan and Ibrahim Khan in which Shahjahan emerged victorious and became the master of Bengal. He lost it in 1624 when lost at Allahabad. In 1639, Rajmahal was again made the capital of Bengal by Shah Shuja, the second son of Emperor Shahjahan. He was the Viceroy of Bengal at that time. It was at Rajmahal that Dr. Gabriel Boughten cured the daughter of Shah Shuja and succeded in securing an order (farman) from him to trade in Bengal. This proved later the inroads of English rule. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the fugitive Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daula was captured at Rajmahal. The victory at Plassey made British the masters of Bengal and Sahibganj came under their rule. However, in the Santhal Pargana, they had to face the opposition of the Paharias. Paharias were unable to suffer losing their freedom and could not tolerate any intruder in their homeland. Warren Hastings, the Governor General of India set up a special corps of 800 army men in 1772 under the command of Captain Brooke to curb the Paharias. Captain Brooke, the Military Governor of the Jungle terai, partially succeeded in his mission. Captain James Browne, who succeeded Captain Brooke in 1774, had to face the rebellion of the Bhuniyas. The English wanted to win over the heart of Paharias and the task was lef for Augustus Cleveland the first British Collector of Rajmahal. However, the self-rule in the area except overall British rule continued till 1827 when Paharias were made to appear in the ordinary courts of law. This Estate was named as "Damin-i-koh", a Persian term meaning, 'skirts of the hills' in 1824 for the purpose of administer it in a better way. However, Santals were encouraged by British rulers to clear the jungles and to come and settle here from outside. It may be mentioned here that Santals had been coming and settling in the district migrating from Birbhum, Bankura, Hazaribag and Rohtas from 1790 onwards. However, later, they found themselves in trap of injustice. And they rebelled finally in 1855 which is known as Santal Hul Rebellion. This rebellion ensured as precursor of the first Indian Freedom Movement of 1857. As a direct consequence of the Santal Hul, Santhal Pargana had been created as a separate district in 1855 by ceding portions of Bhagalpur (which is presently in Bihar) and Birbhum (which is presently in West Bengal) district. The entire Santhal Pargana along with portions of the present Hazaribagh, Munger, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Saharsa, a part of Purnia and Bhagalpur was termed as "Jungle Terai" by the English on assumption of Diwani in Sept. 1763 from Shah Alam II at Allahabad after the Allahabad Treaty. Sahibganj played its important role in the country’s struggle for freedom from 1921 onwards. Lambodar Mukherjee was one of the important freedom fighter of this area. The district played its role in the Salt Satyagrah Movement and the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930 and in the boycott of foreign liquors and cloths. Santals and Paharias both fought it bravely. It also took part in the 1942 Quit India Movement. The Rajmahal and Pakur subdivisions of old Santhal Pargana district were carved out on 17th May, 1983 to form Sahibganj district. Subsequently Pakur sub-division of Sahibganj district was carved out on 28th January, 1994 to constitute Pakur District. It became a district of Jharkhand on on 15th November 2000 after Bihar state was separated in two.