The headquarter of the district Bargarh is situated on the left bank of Jira River. The town Bargarh is on the National Highway-6. The original name of the place was "Baghar Kota" as known from an inscription of the 11th Century A.D. It was called "Bargarh" probably from the time of Balaram Dev, the Chauhan Raja of Sambalpur, who made it for some time his headquarters and constructed a big fort for its protection.

Narayan Singh, the last Chauhan Raja granted this place in "Maufi" (free hold) to 2 Brahmin brothers Krushna Dash and Narayan Dash, sons of Baluki Dash who was killed in action by the Gond rebels led by Baldia Ray and Mahapatra Ray. The another part of the district popularly known as "Borasambar" was formerly the headquarters of the Borasambar Zamindari extending over 2178 Sq.Kms. Later, the headquarters of the Zamindari shifted to Padampur, one of the present sub-divisional headquarter. The Zamindar belongs to the Binjhal family and is called Pat-Bariha.