In 1853, Chandrapur was annexed to British India. During the British colonial period, the area of Chandrapur was called "Chanda". By 1871, Anglican and Scottish Episcopal missionaries had arrived in the city. In 1874, three tehsils were created: Viz Mul, Warora and Bramhpuri. The upper Godavai district of Madras was abolished and four tehsils were added to Chandrapur to form one tehsil with Sironcha, approximately 150 km to the south, as its centre of governance. In 1895, the headquarters was transferred to Chandrapur. In 1905, a new tehsil with headquarters at Gadchiroli was created through the transfer of zamindari estates from Bramhpuri and Chandrapur tehsil. In 1907, a small area of land was transferred from Chandrapur to the newer districts and another area of about 1560 km2, comprising three divisions of the lower Sironcha tehsil (Cherla, Albak and Nugir) were transferred to Madras State. Between 1911 and 1955, no major changes occurred in the boundaries of the district or its tehsils.