The town of Dera Gazi Khan was founded by Haji Khan and called after his son Ghazi Khan, who succeeded him, and who died in A.D. 1494, as reveals from the date written on his tomb at village Choratta. The Mirranis soon came into conflict with the Nahars and had ejected them in A.D. 1482.
The independence of the Langas at Multan and those of Mirranis and the Nahars came to an end with the conquest of the area by Babar in A. D. 1526. The migration of the Baloch tribes to this area via Kech and Mekran was coincident with the time of Babar and Humayun and they seem to have spread all in the south and west of the former Punjab. All the Baloch tribes now occupying the D.G. Khan frontier trace their settlement to this period. Some, such as the Mazaris, the Gurchanis and TibbiLunds, first confined themselves to the Sulemans, but they gradually spread down into the plains and occupied the nearest lands, extending themselves in some laces as far as the Indus. The Mirranis in this way ousted the Nahars from Kin in the south of the district, and the Nahar dominions were reduced to the tract ruled from Sitpur, viz., the north of the present Rajanpur, and the south of the present Alipur tehsil of Muzaffargarh district. Sway of Mirranis continued till 1700 A.D. when Kalhora family came into prominence. When Nadir Shah invaded in A.D. 1739, he recognized Mirrani as his Governor in Dera Ghazi Khan, not as the Mirrani Chief, but his Wazir and that too insubordination to Nur Muhammad Kalhora, who had submitted to Nadir Shah. The Nahars ruling at Sitpur also fell into decay about the same time. They were expelled during the reign of Nadir Shah by Makhdum Sheikh Rajan. On the assassination of Nadir Shah in A.D. 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, obtained possession and Nur Muhammad Kalhora submitted to him. In A.D. 1769 Ghulam Shah Kalhora, again attacked Dera Ghazi Khan, and finally broke the Mirrani power. The Kalhoras lost their power in Sindh in A.D. 1772, when they were driven out by the Talpurs, a section of the Leghari tribes.
Dera Ghazi Khan's governors under Ahmad Shah Durani, were appointed directly from Khurasan. This state of anarchy extended to the southern part of the district. This provided an opportunity to the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, and the greater part of the territory was held by the Makhdums, who gradually annexed it, upto the present left bank of the indus, with Bahawalpur State. The small portion left on their right bank became nominally subject, like the northern part of the district, to the Afghan Governors.
In 1819 A.D. Ranjit Singh seized the Derajat including the district of Dera Ghazi Khan and until 1830 the district was formed by the Sikhs to the Nawab of Bahawalpur. After the Nawab's form of the district ceased in 1830, General Ventura held charge of it for two years as governor and was succeeded by Diwan Sawan Mal, who governed it till his death in A. D. 1844. Sawan Mal was succeeded by his son, Mulraj, whose defiance of the Sikh authority caused the outbreak at Multan. Sir Herbert Edwards was then in the Upper Derajat.
After Independence no major change in administration has occurred except the termination of Tumandara system. The Tumandara system has been withdrawn with effect from 1950. It was felt that civil and judicial cases, which were decided by the hereditary Honorary Magistrate, were not in a regular order.
The whole of the De-Excluded Area is inhabited by different Baloch tribes. Owing to the lack of education among them, no history of their influx in these hills seem to have been recorded. Only there are Baloch anecdotes which pass on from generation to generation. Before partition this area was a Special Area and its administration was under the direct control of Governor General. The Tumandara systems was in vogue. Each tribe constituted a Tuman and its chief was called as Tumandar who exercised first class magisterial powers and civil and judicial cases decided by him under the Frontier Crimes Regulations. After independence these powers were withdrawn and 3 Political Naib Tehsildars and one Political Tehsildar were appointed to administer justice to the public. In 1950, the Special Area was declared as De-Excluded Area of Dera Ghazi Khan district, but no major change in the administration occurred with this change of title. Jirgas continued to be held in the same manner which were held even previously. The only change which took place was that these Jirgas were presided over by the Naib-Tehsildars instead of Tumandars. This was in fact a step to do away with the individual influence of Tumandars which they wielded over their tribes in times of British rule and which the British utilized to achieve their political ends. This also meant a step towards the freedom of Baloch people who were under the yoke of this age-long dictatorial system. After 1950, things continued to happen without any conspicuous change. With the auspicious revolution of 1958 Basic Democracies came into existence and the hill people were also given a chance of electing their own representatives to various tiers of Basic Democracy System.