The region have been inhabited since the Stone Age. Copper tools from the Chalcolithic period have been discovered. This area entered the Iron Age during the mid-2nd millennium BCE. The region was conquered by the Maurya Empire and later (17th century) came under the control of the Mughal emperors Akbar. Following the Mughal decline, the region came under the control of local rulers from the Chero caste and others, before its subjugation by the British East India Company in the late 18th century, succeeded by the British Raj from the mid-19th century, both encountering much local resistance. At this time the territory was covered by nine princely states. Under the Raj, till 1905, the region fell within the Bengal Presidency, most of it then being transferred to the Central Provinces and Or