After the cession of the Diwani to the East
India Company in 1765, Birbhum was administered from Murshidabad
until 1787. In that year in consequence of the unsettled state of the
country, which required a separate administration, it was constituted as
district with Vishnupur ( i.e. eastern portion of Bankura), and this arrangement
continued till 1793, when Vishnupur was transferred to the Burdwan
Collectorate. In 1809, the collectorship of Birbhum was abolished, and the
district was again administered from Murshidabad, an Assistant Collector
remaining in charge at Suri. In 1820, Birbhum was reconstituted as a separate
district and restored to its former area, with the exception of a few estates
were transferred to the Jungle Mahals. After the Santhal rebellion, the upland
tracts on the West, which had been a rallying point of the rebels, were
transferred to the newly constituted district of Santhal Paraganas and in this
way four paraganas and a part of the fifth were detached from Birbhum, viz.,
Sarath Deoghar, Pabbia , Kundahit Karaya, Muhmmadabad and part of Darin
Mauleswar. In 1872 the district consisted of the following thanas (1) Suri, (2)
Rajnagar, (3) Dubrajpur, (4) Kasba (now Bolpur), (5) Sakulipur, (6) Labpur,
(7)Barwan, (8) Mayureswar with a total area of 1,344 square miles.