According to local interpretation the name Bhandara is a corruption of Bhanara. Reference to Bhanara is found in an inscription of 1100 A.D.traced at Ratanpur. The district was under regency administration from1818 to 1830. Prior to 1820, the district was administered from Lanji,thereafter the headquarters of the district were shifted from Lanji toBhandara in 1820-21. The area became British Territory in 1853. In 1881 there were only two tahsils viz., Tirora and Sakoli in the district. There were no major changes in the boundaries of the district or its talukas between 1911 and 1955 exceptthat the headquarters of Tirora tahsil were shifted to Gondiya and name of the tahsil was changed to Gondiya tahsil in 1914.From 1947 to 1956 the district of Bhandara along with the other districts of Vidarbha region continued to form a part of the central provinces. With the reorganization of states in 1956, Bhandara district was transferred from Madhya Pradesh to the Bombay State, which came into existence in the same year. In 1960,with the formation of the state of Maharashtra it formed a part of the newly created State.
At the time of 1961 census, the district comprised of three tahsils, covering 1648 villages and 5 towns. In 1971 census, the district had 3 tahsils comprised of 1659 villages and 5 towns. In the decade 1971-81, the number of tahsils in the district has remained unchanged till 1st March 1981. But there have been certain changes occurred in the number of villages and towns within the district with the upgrading of hamlets/wadis in the district, the number of villages has gone up to 1774, likewise two new towns have been added. After 1981 census, 10 new tahsils were formed from and 26 new villages were created. As compared to 1981 census (1774 villages) number has gone up to 1803, in 1991 census and one more town been added. Again in 2001 census, Bhandara district is divided into two districts viz., Bhandara and Gondiya. The new Bhandara district has 7 tahsils, 12 towns and 864 villages (including 93 uninhabited villages) in 2011 census.