Kadirli District was established in Çukurova, where various civilizations have lived since ancient times, and the history of the district is parallel with the history of this region in general. .

On the shores of Aslantaş Dam Lake The ruins from the Neolithic age (Polished Stone Age, 7000-6000 BC), the Late Chalcolithic Age and the Early Bronze Age (4000-3000 BC) in Domuztepe, as well as the Tırmıl Mound between Kadirli and Kozan, reveal the history of human social life in these periods in the region. It shows that.

Kizzuvatna Kingdom, Hittites, Assyrians, Cilicians, Romans, Byzantines, Great Seljuks, Dulkadiroğulları and Ottomans have formed the main civilizations in the geographical area where the district is located throughout history. Kadirli has been subject to many changes of hands in the interim periods. Asativatas, Ruler of Adanaova, B.C. He established an end castle in Karatepe-Aslantaş in the district around 800. There are works documenting this period in . These are the monumental bronze statue of Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-1389), the Roman Bath built on an area of ​​6-7 decares that is under the city today, and the B.C. Ala mosque, a Roman Basilica dating back to the 5th century, and many other works and monuments in the immediate vicinity. The first Muslim armies, the Turks, entered during the Abbasid and Seljuk periods. In 1515, Ottoman Sultan Yavuz Selim annexed Kadirli to the Ottoman lands. Kadirli, which was a sanjak (Kars-ı Maraş, Kars-ı Zül Kadriyye) under Maraş Beylerbeylik during the Ottoman period, was governed by the Trusteeship until 1865, became a district in 1865, and a municipality was established in the center in 1872. The city was given different names such as "Kars-ak-eli", "Pazaryeri" and "Kars Pazarı" during the Ottoman period, and the district was named Kadirli in 1928.

Kadirli was occupied by the Armenians and the French at the end of World War I; It was rescued from enemy occupation on March 7, 1920.