This city was establish in 1633, by Sayyid Munawar Lashkar Ali, and named Muzaffarnagar in honour of his father, Sayyid Muzaffar Ali Khan, who was appointed ruler of this region by the Mogul Emperor Akbar [2]. The older parts of the city have a Mogul feel and many monuments of Mogul period are also spread in the surrounding villages and towns of Muzaffarnagar district.
It appears that this Janapada was a part of Harappa civilisation, for the pots and pans and other objects of the type of that era are seen occasionally still in use in many neighbouring villages. Also, according to a local tradition, the legendary Mahabharata war - between the Kauravas and the Pandavas - was fought in the fields of the present village of 'Pachenda' and their army camps were located respectively at the sites now famous as 'Kaurawali' and 'Pandavli'.
In 1901, during the British raj, it was made head quarter of Muzaffarnagar district, which was carved out of Saharanpur district, and both became part of the Meerut Division in United Provinces of Agra and Oudh