Auraiya district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Auraiya town is the district headquarters. It lies on the south-western portion of Uttar Pradesh and also forms a part of the Kanpur Division.

Auraiya district generally shares the same history as the broader middle Doab. The region was first ruled by the Panchalas during the Mahajanapada era. The Mahabharata says that Ajamida, the 5th successor of Bharata, had three sons, one of which Brihadvasu, was sent to rule Dakshina Panchala, which included the region south of the Ganga, with capital at Kampilya. During the time of the epic of the Mahabharata, Dakshina Panchala kingdom was ruled by Drupada during the Mahabharata period, with his famous daughter Draupadi being born in the region. Panchala is listed as one of the 16 Mahajanapadas during the time of Buddha, with the town of Alavi, identified with Airwa of this district, as an important settlement. Buddha and Mahavira are both said to have visited this town. Panchala fell under the rule of the Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas and Kanvas, but also had significant autonomy. After the fall of the Kanvas, the history of the region is obscure, mostly likely ruled by the Mitras who were made suboordinates of the Kushanas. After the fall of the Kushanas, the Nagas took over. During Gupta rule, the district prospered and the cities of Kudarkot and Alavi in this district were prominent centres of learning. Faxian, who visited Panchala, stayed in a monastic retreat near Alavi. The district fell under Huna rule after the Guptas collapsed, but eventually fell under the rule of the imperial dynasties of Kannauj, which it would remain under until the Muslim conquest. During the rule of Harsha, Xuanzang recorded the district as being part of the wild country beyond Alavi. The last ruler of Kannauj, Jayachandra, was defeated by Muhammad Ghori in 1194 and Auraiya fell under Muslim rule.

Although Delhi nominally controlled the middle Doab, most of the region of Panchala was in fact dominated by numerous Rajput clans who observed only nominal submission to the Sultan. The Sengars took parts of Bidhuna and Auraiya, while the Gaurs took the eastern part of Bidhuna before falling to the Chandelas of Mahoba. The Sultans had to continually march into the region to suppress local uprisings for autonomy, such as Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1377 suppressing a rebellion by Sumer Rai, a proimnent Zamindar in this district. In 1392, three Zamindars: Rai Nar Singh, Bri Bahan and Sumer Shah, led an uprising against the Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah, until everyone but Sumer Shah was murdered under the pretense of a peace deal. The Sultan then sent Malik Sarwar, a eunuch, to restore order. He was given the territory between Kannauj and Bihar for his own, marking the foundation of the Jaunpur Sultanate.

For the next century, the region lay in the contested area between the spheres of influence of Delhi and Jaunpur, and was a major battleground, while also witnessing numerous rebellions from the local Rajput chiefs and nearby feudal lords. Control from the centre was very weak up until the First Battle of Panipat when the Delhi Sultanate finally fell to the Mughals. At the time the region was under the control of nobleman Qutub Khan, who surrendered after the Mughal armies came into the Doab after the Battle of Khanwa. From 1540 to 1556, the region fell under Suri rule again, until the Second Battle of Panipat put it under Mughal rule again. During Akbar's time, the district was divided between several mahals of the Sarkar of Kannauj: Sakatpur, Sahar, Phaphund and Patti Nakhat. The region remained relatively undisturbed until after the death of Aurangzeb.

In 1714, Farrukhasiyar granted to Afghan noble Muhammad Khan Bangash the middle Doab as fiefdom. After his death in 1743, Qaim Khan, his son, was sent to a disastrous battle in Rohilkhand by Safdar Jung, Nawab of Awadh, and was killed. Safdar Jung then tried to seize the Bangash territory using his deputy Nawal Rai, who was installed as Maharaja Bahadur. However, Nawal Rai's policies led to an Afghan rebellion and his death in battle with Ahmad Khan Bangash. Hearing of Nawal Rai's death Safdar Jung, along with the Marathas and the Jats of Bharatpur, crushed Ahmad Khan's army in battle. As a reward most of the present district was handed to the Marathas. In 1757, during a conflict between the Mughals and Awadh, Ahmad Khan Bangash used Mughal armies to retake Etawah from the Marathas, bringing it back under Mughal authority. However after Shuja ud Daula threatened his capital, he abandoned retaking the region of Etawah allowing the Marathas to reoccupy it.

Under the Rohillas In 1760 AD Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded India; he was opposed in 1761 by the Marathas on the field of Panipat and inflicted on them a signal defeat. Among other Maratha chieftains Govind Rao Pandit lost his life in the action. Before his departure from India the Durrani chief consigned large tracts of country to the Rohilla chieftains, and while Dhunde Khan received Shikohabad, Inayat Khan, son of Hafiz Rahmat Khan received the district of Etawah. This was then in the possession of the Marathas, and accordingly in 1762 a Rohilla force was sent under Mullah Mohsin Khan to wrest the assigned property from the Marathas. This force was opposed near the town of Etawah by Kishan Rao and Bala Rao Pandits, who were defeated and compelled to seek safety in flight across the Yamuna. Siege was then laid to the fort of Etawah by Mohsin Khan; but the fort was soon surrendered by its commander, and the district fell into the hands of the Rohillas.

The occupation, however, was merely nominal at first; the zamindars refused to pay revenue to Inayat Khan and, secure in their mud forts set his authority at defiance. Strong reinforcements were sent to the Rohillas, including some artillery, under Sheikh Kuber and Mullah Baz Khan, and many of the smaller forts were levelled to the grounds; but in their ravine fortresses the zamindars of Kamait in the trans-Yamuna tract still resisted the authority of Inayat Khan. Hafiz Rahmat and Inayat Khan then came in person to Etawah and operations were vigorously pressed against the refractory zamindars. Ultimately an annual tribute was agreed to by the latter. Hafiz Rahmat then departed to Bareilly, and Rohilla garrisons were established at convenient places in the district. Meanwhile, a new minister arose at Delhi called Najib Khan, better known as Najib-ud-daula, Amir-ul-umra, Shuja-ud-daula succeeded Safdar Jang as Nawab Wazir and occupied most of the Bangash possessions as far as Aligarh, with the exception of those granted by the Durrani to the Rohillas after he battle of Pandit. But the wazir's hostility to the Farrukhabad Afghans had not abated one jot, and in 1762 he persuaded Najib-ud-daula to join him in an attack on Farrukhabad. The attack was beaten off by the aid of Hafiz Rahmat Khan and matters once more settled down peacefully.

In 1766 the Marathas under Mulhar Rao, who had been awaiting their opportunity, once more crossed the Yamuna and attacked Phaphund, where a Rohilla force under Muhammad Hasan Khan eldest son of Mohsin Khan, was posted. On receipt of this news Hafiz Rahmat advanced from Bareilly to oppose the Marathas. He was joined near Phaphund by Sheikh Kuber, the Rohilla governor of Etawah, and prepared to give battle; but Mulhar Rao refused to risk an engagement and once more retired across the Yamuna. The ambitions Najib-ud-daula had been considerably irritated by the intervention of the Rohillas on behalf of Ahmad Khan Bangladesh in 1762; and though he had been too busily engaged otherwise to pursue his plans of revenge before, he began in 1770 to plot the downfall of Hafiz Rahmat Khan.