The district of West Dinajpur came into existence in August 1947 with the partition of Bengal. The province of Bengal was divided into two parts in accordance with the partition. The dividing line passed through the district of Dinajpur, the portion lying to the west of the line being named West Dinajpur. There is no local tradition regarding the origin of the name Dinajpur, and it is also rather difficult to advance any satisfactory theory about the origin of the name.
The district of West Dinajpur comprised an area, which in ancient times formed a part of the kingdom of Pundravardhana, the country of the Pundras. According to Brihatkathakosha of Harishena, Bhadrabahu (the Jaina guru of Chandragupta Maurya) was the son of a Brahmin of Kotivarsha in Pundravardhana.
According to the Jaina tradition, Godasa, a disciple of Bhadrabahu, founded the school called Godasagana, which in course of time had four shakhas, three of which were called Tamralipika, Kotivarshiya and Pundravardhaniya. Kotivarsha has been identified with Devkot, which again, has been identified with Bangarh in PS Gangarampur. Buddhism spread in Pundravardhana at about the same time as Jainism. The West Dinajpur district was further bifurcated in 1992 into Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur districts.
