The history of the district is the same as that of Odisha owing to the strategic location of Cuttack city. The city in some form or the other has been an administrative centre since the Kesari kings of the 10th century. The fort at Barabati continued to be the capital of the Mughals who started revenue settlement of Coastal Odisha – thus giving it the vernacular name of Mughalbandi. Occupied successively by the Nawab of Bengal and the Maratha Empire, it finally fell to the British. Simultaneously, a number of petty princely states existed along the north and south bank of the Mahanadi upstream from Cuttack. After the present Sadar subdivision of the district was conquered along with the rest of Coastal Odisha by the East India Company in 1803, a magistrate and judge were appointed for the newly conquered areas with headquarters at Puri which was later shifted to Cuttack city. Further reorganisation took place in 1828 and three districts of Balasore, Puri and Cuttack with headquarters at towns of the same name were constituted. Each district was headed by an officer known as the Collector and District Magistrate who was a member of the Indian Civil Service. The Commissioner of Orissa division with superintendence powers over these three districts as well as the associated princely states also had his headquarters at Cuttack.