Historically, Pratapgarh was an integral part of Mewar Ruler of Udaipur. The district of Pratapgarh is named after Maharawat Pratap Singh. Devgarh or Dewaliya was established as a capital of ‘Kanthal - Desh’ by Surajmal. Maharawat Pratap Singh built a new town Partabgarh in 1689-99 and shifted the capital here. In 1961, Pratapgarh was attacked by the chief of Army of Malhar Rao Holkar, Tukoji but failed. Mewar was ruled by Sisodias kings such as Maharana Sangram, known as Rana Sanga, Maharana Kumbha and Maharana Pratap more than eight hundred years. Immediately after India got its independence in the year 1947, the princely state of Pratapgarh had no other option but to accept the offer of then Home Minister, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel to join the Indian State on a notable condition that the place of Pratapgarh must be declared as a newly independent district in the state of Rajasthan. Pratapgarh enjoyed the status of an independent district during the period of 1948-1952. But unfortunately, due to the reconstitution of the boundaries of the district, Pratapgarh became a part of the Nimbahera district and later of Chittorgarh. Whereas after a long struggle of 56 years, Pratapgarh again got back its honour of an independent district.

There are a number of famous personalities from the district. Jagdish Lal Raj Soni, a well known crafts person from Pratapgarh pursued his designing course from London University in 1968. He was awarded with National Award in 1977, Shilp Guru Award in 2002 for Thewa art and Kala Mani Puraskar and Umed Bhawan Jubilee Award in Jodhpur. He also received a Merit Certificate for his work in the year 1970. Mahesh Raj Soni, a popular name in the world of traditional art of Thewa. Thewa is a tradition to make Rajasthani jewellery with the use of glass and gold leaves. He is a member of Rajasthan Thewa Kala Sansthan. He had registered his name in Limca Book of World Records 2011. He was awarded with Padma Shri in the year 2015.

Geographically, the district has a geographical area of 4,449 sq km. and on basis of this size ranks 30th in the State and 270th in India. It lies at 24°03'N latitude, 74°78'E longitude and 580 m altitude. In the year 2021, there was a total 23.24% forest area of total geographical area. It is second highest place after Mount Abu. It lies on the Aravali hills. Jakham, Mahi, and Siwana (Shiv) are the main rivers and Som, Era, and Karmoi are other seasonal rivers of the district. The region has Black cotton soil which is highly fertile, is made up of magma of volcanoes. It is one of the greenest districts of the state. The climate of the district is extremely hot in the summers and fairly cold in the winters. Most of its rainfall occurs in the monsoon season. The actual rainfall in the district was 1308.0 mm in the year of 2021-22.

Administratively, the district is divided into 5 sub-districts namely Arnod, Chhoti Sadri, Dhariawad, Peepal Khoont and Pratapgarh. Moreover, it has 3 towns and 1,003 villages. The district of Pratapgarh came into existence on 26th January, 2008 in the state of Rajasthan with an allotted district code of 131. Pratapgarh is its district Headquarters which is located at a distance of 420 km. from the State Capital. Hindi is its official language.

Demographically, according to 2011 census, the district is home to a total number of 1,78,046 households with a total population of 8,67,848 comprising 4,37,744 are males and 4,30,104 are females, causing it to rank 32nd in the state and 472 in India. The density of population of the district is 195 persons per sq km. The sex ratio is pegged at 983 (females per 1000 males) while the child ratio stands at 933 (females per 1000 males). As per 2011 census, the percentage of major religion practiced by the people of this region is Hindu with 95.33% of the total population. In the year 2001-2011 the population growth rate in the district was 83.41% out of which 81.26% were males and 85.66% were females. According to 2011 census the principal language in the district is Hindi with 77.26%. In the year 2020 the number of live births in the district was 18,987 out of which 9,835 were males and 9,151 were females. In the same year the number of deaths in the district was 5,075 out of which 3,249 were males and 1,825 were females.

Economically, agriculture is the prime source of income of people of the district. Tourism is also a big industry here. Small scale industries are also available. In the year 2020-21 the gross domestic product in the district was Rs. 9,81,630 lakhs at current price and Rs. 6,20,658 lakhs at constant prices in the year 2011-2012. The net domestic product in the district during the period 2020-21 was Rs. 9,00,496 lakh at current price and Rs. 5,63,948 lakh at constant prices in the year 2011-2012. The Per Capita Income or NDDP, At Factor Cost during the period 2020-21 was Rs. 90,193 at current price and Rs. 56,485 at constant prices in the year 2011-2012. Opium, wheat, barley, maize, groundnuts, soya beans, gram, mustard, and some pulses are the major agricultural crops of this region. The Jakham Dam is constructed here for the irrigation. Mining is allowed in non forest region such as Chhoti Sadri for red ochre, calcite, dolomite, quartz, feldspar and soapstone, Marble, Building-stone and limestone, etc.

Education wise, according to 2011 census, the literacy rate in the district is 55.97% including 69.5% are males and 42.35% are females. The total literate population of the district is 4, 01,515 including 2,50,122 are males and 1,51,393 are females. In 1986, the district had its first English medium middle school Burhani Baage Naunihal School. There are a number of primary, middle, secondary graduation educational institutes at this time. Here, ‘Regional Engineering College’ is a private engineering college which offers technical courses. Most of the local colleges including the Government College are affiliated by the nearest Mohan Lal Sukhadia University.

The district has some famous tourist places. Jakham Dam is a dam located in Anooppura village in the Pratapgarh district. It is main source of water for irrigation for the region. The dam is constructed on the Jakham River. It was founded on 14th May, 1968 and completed in the year 1986. But actual completion for irrigation project was done in March 2000. The Sita Mata Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the South-East portion of the Pratapgarh district. It is a dense and protected forest area by the Government of Rajasthan Notification No. F 11 (9) Revenue/8/79, dated 2 /11/1979.