Epic Mahabharata mentions Sambhar as part of kingdom of the demon king Brishparva, as the place where his priest Sukrachaya live, and as the place where the marriage between his daughter Devyani and king Yayati took place.  A temple dedicated to Devayani can be seen near the lake.

According to a Hindu tradition, Shakambhari devi, the tutelary goddess of Chauhan Rajputs, converted the forest to a plain of precious metals.  People worried about potential feuds for wealth and felt it to be a curse rather than a blessing.  They requested her to retract her favour, so she converted the silver to salt. This place still has a temple dedicated to Shakambhari Devi.

Sambhar quite literally means salt, and the various administrators of the area have extracted salt from here for over a thousand years.  over time, these have included the Sindhias, Rajputs, Marathas, Mughals and the rulers of Jaipur and Jodhpur who jointly owned the lake, and who in 1870 leased it to the British.  After independence, the lake was taken over by the government and is now managed by Sambhar salts limited, a joint venture of Hinduism  Salts and the Government of Rajasthan.

In the 7th cent, the Chauhans ruled over the area called Sambhar lake which was situated to the north of Ajmer.  This was also called Shakambari (Sapadlaksh)
In the history of Rajasthan Dr. Dashrat Sharma states that the capital of the Chauhan dynasty was established on the eastern end of the Sambhar and Shri Laxmikant states that the Chauhan lived in the Shakambhar area (Sapadlaksh) under which came 1 1/4 lac villages.