According to the district government, humanoid activity in the region date back to approximately 600,000 years ago. The district government claims the area was incorporated into the
Xia dynasty as Liang Prefecture (). Later, the area would belong to the and the
Ba state. During the
Qin dynasty, the area was organized as
Ba Commandery and
Nan Commandery. The area was home to a variety of different ethnic groups at the time. In 140 BCE, during the
Western Han period, was established under the Ba Commandery. Fuling County's government was
seated in present-day , and the county governed over much of present-day
Chongqing and northeast
Guizhou. Circa 106 BCE, Liang Prefecture was reorganized as
Yi Province, which now governed the area. In 201 CE, the area was reorganized as , which governed over four counties: Fuling County, Yongning County (), Hanjia County (), and Danxing County (). Danxing County, which survived up through the
Northern and Southern dynasties period, had its county seat in present-day in Qianjiang District. However, local administrative units often held little
de facto power, as, for the next two centuries, local leaders of different ethnic groups raised local militias to promote their own interests. In 565 CE, local ethnic leader Tian Sihe (), effectively incorporated much of the land in the area into the
Northern Zhou. The Northern Zhou reorganized the area into a number of different
zhou, including (which would shortly be changed to ), , and . In 585 CE (during the
Sui dynasty), Danxing County was reorganized as Shicheng County (), which belonged to Yong Prefecture (), with the district seat at today's Ba Village of Baxiang County (). Due to the recent establishment of a number of other counties in the area, the territory governed by Shicheng County was relatively small, and the county was merged into Pengshui County (), which was governed by Qi Prefecture, in 607 CE. Yong Prefecture was replaced by Badong
Commandery ().
Tang dynasty In 618 CE, during the
Tang dynasty, Shicheng County was re-established and became part of Qian Prefecture (). The county's seat was Wuci Town (). Shortly after, Qian Prefecture was abolished, and the area was reorganized as Qianzhong Commandery (), which governed over five counties: Pengshui County (same name as the previous iteration), Hongdu County (), Yangshui County (), Yongning County (same name as the previous iteration), and Shicheng County. In 630 CE, Shicheng's county seat moved back to Nanmuping. In 742 CE, Shicheng County was changed to Qianjiang County (), and put under the jurisdiction of An Commandry ().
Song dynasty and Yuan dynasty From 960 to 1368 (
Song and
Yuan), Qianjiang at this time was "half-barbarian" () and dominated by the local rich bourgeois of the Gongs, Hus, Qins, and Xiangs () according to the
Qianjiang County Records () of the
Qing dynasty. In 1228, during the Southern Song dynasty period, Qianjiang County was moved to the jurisdiction of . In 1285 (late Yuan), Qianjiang was part of
Ming Yuzhen's Daxia Empire.
Ming dynasty In 1372, Qianjiang County was merged into nearby Pengshui County (). In 1378, 1216 soldiers were dispatched here to guard the place. Qianjiang County was re-established in 1381.
Qing dynasty In early
Qing, Qianjiang District was under Chongqing
Subprefecture. In 1726, Qianjiang County was reorganized as a subprefecture (). In 1734, the area was reorganized as , which governed Qianjiang County and Pengshui County. This proved to be short-lived, as Qianpeng Subprefecture was abolished in 1736, and the area now fell under the jurisdiction of .
Republic of China In 1912, Qianjiang County was under Liuxiang Fangqu (). From 1927 to 1935, the county was directly governed by the
Sichuan government. In 1935, Qianjiang County was placed under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Administrative Region () of Sichuan Province, also known as Youyang Special District (). The county seat was at Sanduo Town ().
People's Republic of China On November 12, 1949, Qianjiang came under CPC control, and the People's Government was established on November 25, as part of Chuandong Administrative Special District (). The county seat changed to Lianhe Town (). On January 23, 1950, the county was reorganized under Youyang Prefecture (), which also administered
Youyang and
Xiushan Counties. In September 1952, Youyang was merged into , which later became a second (same English translation, different Chinese characters). On November 14, 1983, the
State Council approved changing Qianjiang County to Qianjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County (), reflecting the area's large
Tujia and
Miao population. The assembly was established November 13 of the following year. On May 18, 1988, the State Council halved Fuling, reorganizing Qianjiang County, as well as four other counties (5 autonomous counties of Fuling's 10 counties), into a new prefecture: Qianjiang Prefecture (). The other four counties were: •
Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County () •
Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County () •
Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County () •
Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County () The prefecture officially began in November. At this time the area was with a population of 2,700,000. Qianjiang County, along with Qianjiang District, was incorporated into Chongqing Municipality in 1997. In 1998, the prefecture was changed to the Qianjiang Development Area (), which governs Shizhu, Xiushan, Qianjiang County, Pengshui and Youyang on behalf of Chongqing. On May 22, 1998 (implemented June 2000), Qianjiang Development Area and Qianjiang Autonomous County were abolished. In June 2000, Qianjiang Autonomous County and the Qianjiang Development Area were abolished, and became Qianjing District, directly administered by Chongqing. Shizhu, Xiushan, Pengshui and Youyang remain autonomous counties, and are governed by Chongqing directly as well. Prior to becoming a district, Qianjiang had governed 5 towns, 45 townships, 8 neighborhood committees, and 517 village committees. Many townships were abolished, the only abolished town was Lianhe (), the old county seat now separated into sub-districts. As of 2001, the district contained 3 sub-districts, 12 townships, 15 towns, and 489 village committees. ==Administrative divisions==