The district was carved out on 26 April 2001 by separating four blocks-Kundhit, Nala, Jamtara and Narayanpur—of the erstwhile Dumka district. Earlier, it was a sub-division. In its long history it was a part of Birbhum under the Hetampur Raj and the Bardhaman Maharaja-Dhiraj.There are a few surviving former raj families in the district. Raja of Jamtara left everlasting impression on the culture and lives of the people of Jamtara and the adjoining area. The Zamindar family of Jamjuri had influence over a major portion of Kundahit and Fatehpur blocks. There are several historical sites waiting for study and exploration. The region was disturbed during the Santal Hul of 1854-55 under Siddhu and Kanhu. It is said that the insurgents moved village to village and gained sympathy. Legends are that one village headman, Gopal Mandal of Madhopur, now in Fatehpur Block, faced them with great honour, when all other villagers of the vicinity fled. He offered three muns of rice to the leaders and a night feast in the village ground. Scholar and intellectual Dr. Sharat Kumar Mandal is his grandson's grandson. Siddhu was captured at Ghatiyari, Narayanpur, now in this district. After the insurgence, a separate Santal Pargana district was created. Prior to the formation of Bihar, it was a part of Bengal. The people of this area speak Hindi and Bengali, but Santali is the language of tribals. Angika is also widely spoken. Amit Besra, a well-known author and philanthropist, has brought Jamtara to the world map. He is the author of the bestselling novelIt's Dying Time - A Chilling Indian Thriller published in the year 2010, Be The Change published in the year 2013 and In Search Of Love - A Story of Love, Friendship and Sacrifice published in the year 2019. All the books are available on Amazon, Flipkart and Google Play Store. A boy named Ananya Abhinav lives in jamtara who is a famous basketball player. He is a singer too
According to the 2011 census Jamtara district has a population of 791,042, roughly equal to the nation of Comoros or the US state of South Dakota. This gives it a ranking of 486th in India. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 21%. Jamtara has a sex ratio of 959 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 63.73%. 30.4% of the population are Scheduled Tribes. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 30.18% of the population spoke Bengali, 29.10% Santali, 27.93% Khortha, 5.92% Hindi and 3.61% Urdu as their first language.
