Fatehpur district is one of the 75 districts of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district has a population of 2,632,733 (2011 Census). Fatehpur city is its administrative headquarters.

Fatehpur district is named after its headquarters, the town Fatehpur. According to local legends, the name is derived from a battle won by Ibrahim Shah of Jaunpur over Raja Sita Nand of Athgarhia. The name of the conqueror is sometimes given as Jalal-ud-din, the ruler of Bengal. According to another tradition, the name originates from Fateh-mand Khan who supposedly founded the town. This tradition is based on a fragmentary inscription found at Denda Sai in Tehsil Khaga, which mentions that an officer of Sultan Ala-ud-din named Fatehmand Khan obtained a Farman from Fateh-mand Khan in 1519 A.D. However, there was no known king by the name Ala-ud-din at the time, meaning the title of the Sultan must be wrong for the date to be correct. Also, Denda Sai is about 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Fatehpur.

Grand Trunk Road passes through the district; it is one of Asia's major trading routes which back at least 2500 years. Fatehpur was mentioned in the Puranic literature. Bhitaura, the site of the sage Bhrigu, was historically an important source of learning.

In the ancient times the area was part of Madhyadesha, and was part of the Vatsa Mahajanapada with their capital at Kaushambi, which was monarchical. Their origin is debated, the epics and the Harivamsha record them being descended from a king of Kashi, while the Matsya Purana says that when the Ganga washed away Hastinapur, Nichakshu, 5th in descent from Parikshit, went to live in Kaushambi. During the time of the Buddha the Vatsas were ruled by a king named Udayana. Although there were many kings before him, they were not well-known and there only appear to have been four kings after him. Kshemaka, the last, seems to have seen his kingdom be absorbed into the Nanda Empire in the middle of the fourth century BCE. Afterwards it fell under Maurya rule until the death of Ashoka, when it came under Shunga dynasty rule until 78 BCE. However Shunga rule was never strong, particularly after an invasion by Indo Greeks under Demetrius. The Shungas were replaced by the Kanvas, but their control over the region lasted only a few decades until 30 BCE.

After the Kanva period, little is known about the region's history until the Gupta period. It may have been part of the Kushan Empire under Kanishka and remained under their rule until the death of the king Vasudeva. After the weakening of Kushan rule, the Maghas became powerful in the district and coins from their rule have been found in Fatehpur district. Bhadramagha, the grandson of the family's founder Bhimasena, seems to have wrested Kaushambi from Kushana control in around 175 CE, and ruled until 184 CE. Inscriptions and coins indicate his successors expanded the Magha domain to cover much of the Prayagraj region and Baghelkhand. The last of these rulers named in coins were Satamagha and Vijaymagha.

Under the Gupta Empire, the district was part of the Antarvedi (Doab) province. Following the Huna invasions and the decline of the Guptas, the Maukharis of Kannauj rose to power in the 6th century, before losing the district to Gauda and Malwa. The region reached a peak of stability under Harshavardhana; during this time, the Chinese traveler Xuanzang visited the area, and the monastery of Vasubandhu is traditionally identified with the modern village of Gunir in this district. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the district was a core territory of the Gurjara-Pratiharas until the rise of the Chandelas and the subsequent incursions of Mahmud of Ghazni. According to al-Utbi, a local chieftain, Chandal Bhar, who had often fought against Kannauj, grew terrified of Mahmud. Mahmud demolished his five forts and buried their inhabitants in the ruins. The Gahadavala dynasty restored order in 1090, maintaining a significant treasury and garrison at Asni until their defeat by the Ghurids in 1194.

Following the Muslim conquest, nearby Kara in present Kaushambi district became the capital of a major province (iqta) encompassing the modern district. The region was a focal point of political intrigue; in 1296, Alauddin Khilji assassinated his uncle Jalaluddin at Kara to seize the Delhi throne. The independent rule of the Jaunpur Sultanate began from the region of this district, as their progenitor, Malik Sarwar, was given the entire region between Kannauj and Bihar as a fief with their initial seat in Kara. For much of the 15th century, the district was under the control of the Jaunpur Sultanate, before the Lodi dynasty reincorporated them and suppressed rebellions of the local Bachgoti Rajputs aided by the Raja of Rewa. At the time of the Mughal conquest of the Lodi dyansty, the district was effectively under the control of Jalal Khan, Ibrahim Lodi's brother, as an independent fief of the Sultanate, and later fell under the Suri Empire. After Humayun and Akbar retook their domains, they finally conquered Awadh in 1559. However the general which led that conquest, Ali Quli Khan Zaman, soon rebelled, and was defeated and killed by Akbar in battle in this district in 1567.

During the Mughal era, the district’s strategic importance shifted. The Mughals constructed the Grand Trunk Road through the district, which improved connectivity through the Doab; previously the main route from Delhi east to Bihar and Bengal lay north of the Ganga. While initially maintaining the importance of Kara and Kora, the construction of the Allahabad Fort in 1584 led to the decline of Kara as an administrative centre. During Akbar's days, the Sarkars of Kara and Kora fell under Allahabad Subah, divided into dastars, or districts. Kara had one dastar, while Kora had three. Kara was further subdivided into 12 mahals, of which eight made up the present district: Fatehpur Haswa, Haswa, Kotla, Hathgaon, Aya Shah, Kunra, Aijhi and Rari. Kora made up 8 mahals of which four: Kora, Kuti, Kiratpur-Kananda and Gunir, became part of Fatehpur district, the others going to Kanpur. The parganas making up Fatehpur district were largely held by Brahmins and Rajputs, with some Afghans. In 1658, the district was the site of the Battle of Khajwa (near Kora), where Aurangzeb defeated his brother Shah Shuja to secure the throne.