Tradition and legends tell that in Krta Yuga the name of this place was Lokapura and its extent much wider than what it is to-day. In Dvapara Yuga, during the reign of one Raja Chandrahasa its name was changed to Indupur and still later as Chandrapur or the city of the moon. During the period of the British Raj, Chandrapur came to be called as Chanda for no particular reason perhaps because the short form was more convenient and continued to be so called until 1964 when its name was officially changed to Chandrapur again. In spite of the restoration of the name it is still known to the general public as Chanda. Puranas mention the town as having been founded by Krtadhvaja Raja, but modern Chandrapur has grown out of the foundations laid by Khandkya Ballal Sah, the Gond King, about the year 1450 A.D. Other places of the region in ancient times include Wairangad, Kosala, Bhadravati and Markanda. Hindu and Buddhist kings are said to have ruled the area for a long time. Later on Gonds overtook Mana kings who ruled Chandrapur around 9th century and Gond Kings ruled the area till 1751 after which Maratha period started. Raghuji Bhosale, the last King of the dynasty, died heirless in 1853 and Nagpur province together with Chandrapur was declared annexed to British Empire.
In 1854, Chandrapur formed an independent district and in 1874, it comprised three tehsils viz. Mul, Warora and Bramhpuri. In 1874, however, upper Godavai district of Madras was abolished and four tehsils were added to Chandrapur to form one tehsil with Sironcha as its headquarters. In 1895, the headquarters of one tehsil transferred to MUl to Chandrapur. A new tehsil with headquarter at Gadchoroli was created in 1905 by transfer of zamindari estates from Bramhpuri and Chandrapur tehsil. An small zamindari tract from Chandrapur district as transferred to newly from districts in 1907. In the same year an area of about 1560 km² comprising three divisions of the lower Sironcha tehsil, namely Cherla,
