The Gond kings once ruled these forests in the vicinity of the Chimur hills, in the Chandrapur district. Hunting was completely banned in 1935. Two decades later, in 1955, 116.54 sq.km. was declared as Tadoba National Park under the Madhya Pradesh National Park Act. The area was ceded to the state of Maharashtra in 1956. In 1986, an area of 509 sq. km. adjacent to the reserve was notified as the Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary. The two sanctuaries were subsequently integrated and in 1993, and it became a Project Tiger Reserve.