Prehistoric human groups lived along the Banas River 100,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found evidence of the Harappan and post-Harappan cultures, which flourished around 2500 B.C. Some of the pottery at Kali Banga dates from 2700 B.C.

Rock inscriptions discovered near Bairat reveal that the Maurya emperor Asoka controlled part of the state in about 250 B.C.. The Mauryas were followed by the Bactrian Greeks, the Scythians, the Guptas, and the Huns.

Rajput dynasties rose to political supremacy between the 600's and the 1200's. The Rajputs were a heroic warrior caste who lived by a strict code of chivalry and ritual. Upon the arrival of Islam in India, the Rajasthan region became a Hindu stronghold. Rajput strength reached its peak in the early 1500's before the Mughal Babur defeated armies of Rajputana.

Akbar, in a move to make peace with the Rajasthanis, married a Rajput princess and enlisted the services of Rajput nobles in his imperial service. Those kings who did not serve Akbar were conquered. In the 1700's, Marathas, Pathans, and Pindaries all threatened Rajasthan.

The Rajput rulers appealed for aid to the British East India Company. In the 1800's, British influence gradually extended into the state. The British allowed the princes of the independent states to run the internal affairs of their territories as they wished. But a British representative controlled external matters.
He was responsible to the political officer for the whole province, who in turn answered to the governor. British troops helped the native rulers put down peasant rebellions during the period. Ajmer became one of the centres of nationalist activity.

When India gained independence in 1947, Rajasthan was an important part of the newly independent country. The princes gradually surrendered their powers to the central government and became ordinary citizens in 1971.