Lakhnur as the thanah(headquarters) of the Rarh wing of the Muslim rule and an important frontier post. The location of Lakhnur, though not yet identified, falls in Birbhum.
Mythology has it that the forests of Vajjabhumi (west Birbhum) were hot-spots of Hindu and tantric activities. Some authors have called Birbhum by the name Kamkoti which relates to its tantric heritage. Tantrics, including the Vajrayana, the Shaktas, and the Buddhists established many temples for tantra sadhana rituals and Shakti worship. Birbhum has many Shakti Peethas such as Tarapith, Bakreshwar, Kankalitala, Fullara near Labhpur, Sainthia and Nalhati. One of the famous Shakti worshippers of Tarapith was Bamdev, popularly known as Bama Khyapa.
Modern era
During the time of British East India Company, the administrative unit by the name Birbhum was formed in 1787. Prior to that, it was administratively a part of Murshidabad district. In 1787, when the official "District Beerbhoom" was established, the district was much bigger than it is now. Till 1793, it included "Bishenpore" or Bishnupur, which is now part of the Bankura district. Till the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, theSanthal Parganas was also part of Birbhum; the district thus sprawled up to Deoghar in the west. The immediate reason then for separating the western tribal majority areas was the Santhal rebellion of 1855–56, which was quelled. Sidhu and Kanu are remembered in Birbhum as martyrs of this uprising
