The earliest references to the Barrackpore region are found in the writings of the Greek navigators, geographers, chronicles and historians of the 1st century BC to the 3rd century A.D. These authors generally referred to the country of a people variously called the Gangaridae, Gangaridai, Gandaritai etc.
By the 15th and 16th century, Chanak and the other towns in the region became populous river towns. The Statistical Account of Bengal by W.W. Hunter in 1857 mentions the towns and villages of this subdivision on the banks of the Hooghly river as chief trading and marketing centres: "On The Hugli- Calcutta, the chief seat of commerce in India. Baranagar, Dakhineswar, Agarpara, Panihati, Sukchar- Khardah, Barrackpur, Nawabganj, Ichapore, Shyam Nagar, Naihati and Halisahar contain large bazaars for sale of miscellaneous goods."
Under the Mughal Empire, Bengal was divided into Circars, or administrative subunits, each of which was ruled over by a Mahal. The name "Barbuckpur", another name for Barrackpore, is associated with a Mahal in the Ain-e-Akbari. From the 17th century, the area was ruled over by a line of Zamindars from the Nona Chandanpukur, Barrackpore.
The first British barrack or cantonment in India was built here in 1772, providing the town with its name. After the British crown assumed direct control of India, the sprawling Government House and the Government Estate were built in Barrackpore to provide the viceroy with a suburban residence 15 miles (24 km) outside of Calcutta.
Two rebellions against British authority took place in Barrackpore in the 19th century. The first of these was in 1824, led by Sepoy Binda Tiwary. In this rebellion, the mostly high-caste Hindu 47th Bengal Native Infantry refused to board boats to cross the polluting "dark waters" to Burma in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Consequently, British-manned artillery fired upon and "erased" them. In 1857, Barrackpore was the scene of an incident that some credit
