Archeologist Cunningham conjectured that the name Pabna might be derived from Pundra or Poondrobordhon civilization, whose capital was Mahasthangarh, the oldest city of Bangladesh, in neighbouring Bogra. But this hypothesis has not received general acceptance among scholars.
In 1859-61 the district was one of the major areas involved in the Indigo revolt. Beginning in Yusufshahi period in 1873 the serfs resisted excessive demands of incresead rents by feudal lords (zamindar), led by the nouveau riches Banerjees and Dwijendranath Tagore, by forming an Agrarian League. This largely peaceful movement found the support of the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal George Campbell (1824–1892), who antagonised the absentee feudal lords. These protests are generally referred to as Pabna disturbances. In the following year the district was one of the worst hit by famine. The peasant's demands were finally partially met with the Rent Law Actof 1885.
In 1875, Raaygonj was transferred back to Pabna from Bogra, and in 1879, a separate judgeship for the districts of Pabna and Bograwas created
