The Ranji Trophy was started in the 1934-1935 season, after the Indian board met and decided to launch a domestic tournament for the Indian cities and states. The tournament was named after KS Ranjit Sinhji, the Prince of Nawanagar, who played for Sussex and also played for England between 1896 and 1902. He was also popularly known as Ranji. The Ranji Trophy is considered to be India`s equivalent to county cricket in England and the Pura Cup competition held in Australia. H.H. Sir Bhupendra Singh Mahinder Bahadur, the Maharajah of Patiala, donated the champions` trophy of the first season of the tournament.

According to the format of the Ranji Trophy in the initial period, the teams first participated in knockout rounds and then reached a timeless final. The rules stated that in case of draws, the team leading in the first innings was announced as the winner. However, the rules were changed and zonal groups introduced, in 1957-58 after a spate of matches where sides with no chance of winning conceded. According to the changed format, the teams were divided into the 5 zones like North, West, East, Central and South. Teams in zone played each other in the league stage. The top 2 teams (till1991-92) and top 3 following them from the zones played each other in the knockout round through which the eventual winner was decided. However, the format was changed in the 2002-03 season, when the elite and the plate divisions came into play. The BCCI changed the names of the elite and plate divisions to `Super League` and `Plate League` in the 2006-07 season. Though most of the teams in the tournament represent the different states of India, the states like Maharashtra, Mumbai, Gujarat and Vadodara, have separate teams. However, besides the states, the teams like Railways and Services also participate in the Ranji Trophy.

According to the newly sketched format of Ranji Trophy, there are two pools of 8 and 7 teams, in the Elite group. The plate division contains two groups of six teams each and the top two from the groups make it to the knockout phase. The new rules also allow the finalists of the plate division to get a promotion to the Elite Division in the next year`s Ranji Trophy and the rules forces the last two from the elite group to get demoted to the plate group. The BCCI has also made yet another change in the rules and regulations regarding the player participation in the teams of Ranji Trophy in the season of 2007-08. The new regulations say that the top two teams of the Plate Division will join the top three teams from Elite A and Elite B groups in the knockout stage of the tournament. The BCCI changed the format with a view to keep a single trophy for the Plate and Elite Divisions. The BCCI has also allowed the foreign players to play in the Ranji Trophy on behalf of various participating teams. This means that the Ranji Trophy teams will now be able to include the star international players in their side for becoming a stronger team.

The journey of the Ranji Trophy in India has been flawless and without any obstacles so far. The tournament was never forced to be stopped for any reason, and it ran successfully, even during the World War II, unlike the other countries. In fact, the decade of 1940s can be defined as the golden age for the tournament, as a number of huge scores, record-breaking batting feats, and a flowering of Indian batting, occurred in that decade. The Bombay (Presently known as Mumbai) team was first introduced in the tournament in the year of 1956-57 and the team has already established a remarkable stranglehold over the tournament. The team became successful to win 15 straight titles from 1958-59 to 1972-73 and another 18 in 19 years. It also has the credit of winning the Trophy for 32 times. However, the teams from South India started to do well in the tournament, during the later half of 1960s, mainly because of the dominance of high-class spinners. The BCCI also organised a Ranji One-Day Trophy, where the Railways team became the champion.

The list of the winners and the runner-ups of the Ranji Trophy in its history so far is given below:

Year	Winners	Runners-up	Year	Winners	Runners-up
1934-35	Mumbai	Northern India	1971-72	Mumbai	Bengal
1935-36	Mumbai	Madras	1972-73	Mumbai	Tamil Nadu
1936-37	Nawanagar	Bengal	1973-74	Karnataka	Rajasthan
1937-38	Hyderabad	Nawanagar	1974-75	Mumbai	Karnataka
1938-39	Bengal	Southern Punjab	1975-76	Mumbai	Bihar
1939-40	Maharashtra	United Province	1976-77	Mumbai	Delhi
1940-41	Maharashtra	Madras	1977-78	Karnataka	Uttar Pradesh
1941-42	Mumbai	Mysore	1978-79	Delhi	Karnataka
1942-43	Baroda	Hyderabad	1979-80	Delhi	Mumbai
1943-44	Western India	Bengal	1980-81	Mumbai	Delhi
1944-45	Mumbai	Holkar	1981-82	Delhi	Karnataka
1945-46	Holkar	Baroda	1982-83	Karnataka	Mumbai
1946-47	Baroda	Holkar	1983-84	Mumbai	Delhi
1947-48	Holkar	Mumbai	1984-85	Mumbai	Delhi
1948-49	Mumbai	Baroda	1985-86	Delhi	Haryana
1949-50	Baroda	Holkar	1986-87	Hyderabad	Delhi
1950-51	Holkar	Gujarat	1987-88	Tamil Nadu	Railways
1951-52	Mumbai	Holkar	1988-89	Delhi	Bengal
1952-53	Holkar	Bengal	1989-90	Bengal	Delhi
1953-54	Mumbai	Holkar	1990-91	Haryana	Mumbai
1954-55	Madras	Holkar	1991-92	Delhi	Tamil Nadu
1955-56	Mumbai	Bengal	1992-93	Punjab	Maharashtra
1956-57	Mumbai	Services	1993-94	Mumbai	Bengal
1957-58	Baroda	Services	1994-95	Mumbai	Punjab
1958-59	Mumbai	Bengal	1995-96	Karnataka	Baroda
1959-60	Mumbai	Mysore	1996-97	Mumbai	Delhi
1960-61	Mumbai	Rajasthan	1997-98	Karnataka	Uttar Pradesh
1961-62	Mumbai	Rajasthan	1998-99	Karnataka	Madhya Pradesh
1962-63	Mumbai	Rajasthan	1999-00	Mumbai	Hyderabad
1963-64	Mumbai	Rajasthan	2000-01	Baroda	Railways
1964-65	Mumbai	Hyderabad	2001-02	Railways	Baroda
1965-66	Mumbai	Rajasthan	2002-03	Mumbai	Tamil Nadu
1966-67	Mumbai	Rajasthan	2003-04	Mumbai	Tamil Nadu
1967-68	Mumbai	Madras	2004-05	Railways	Punjab
1968-69	Mumbai	Bengal	2005-06	Uttar Pradesh	Bengal
1969-70	Mumbai	Rajasthan	2006-07	Mumbai	Bengal
1970-71	Mumbai	Maharashtra	2007-08	Delhi	Uttar Pradesh