Bastar and Dantewada districts were formerly part of the princely state of Bastar. Earlier studies of the region were conducted by Verrier Elwin a colonial anthropologist, who went native. The state is described in Nandini Sundar, Subalterns and Sovereigns. After Indian independence in 1947, the princely states of Bastar and Kanker acceded to the Government of India, and were merged to form Bastar District of Madhya Pradesh state. The district, which had an area of 39,114 km², was one of the largest in India.
In 1999, the district was divided into the present-day districts of Bastar, Dantewada, and Kanker, and in 2012 it was divided in one more distrct named as Kondagaon which constitute Bastar Division. In 2000, Bastar was one of the 16 Madhya Pradesh districts that formed a part of the new state of Chhattisgarh.
The Chitrakoot and Teerathgarh waterfalls are situated close to Jagdalpur. Bastar is famous for its traditional Dasara (Dussera) festival.
The district is currently a part of the Red Corridor
