The city began as a fortress built on the orders of Ivan the Terrible in 1574, and originally bore the name of the hill it stood on, Tura-Tau. It was granted town status in 1586.
In the 18th century Ufa evolved into an administrative, trading, manufacturing and cultural center of Russia. Ufa Municipal Public Bank was established on December 15, 1876.
In 1918, Ufa was the residence of the Provisional All-Russian Government.
On June 14, 1922, the Decree of the All-Union Central Executive Committee abolished Ufa Governorate, and Ufa became the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
The discovery of oil in Bashkiria made Ufa one of the centers of the Soviet oil extracting and oil refining industries.
During World War II, following eastward Soviet retreat in 1941, Ufa became the wartime seat of the Soviet Ukrainian government
