[5] According to a Jain inscription found at Masarh village near the town, Arrah is mentioned there as Aramnagar (transl.

[9][10] Arrah has also historically been known as Shahabad, a name given to it by Babur in 1529, when he camped here after his victory against the Afghans of Bihar.

[11] According to the Hindu epic Ramayana, sage Vishwamitra, the Guru of Rama, had his Ashram in the region of Arrah.

Pandava came to Ekchakra during their wandering and they were entertained by a Brahmin whose turn it was to supply a human for the demon.

Bihiya and Tirawan were the capitals of Chief Ghughulia and Raja Sitaram Rai respectively.

In 14th century Chero lost Western Bihar along with Arrah to Ujjainiya Rajputs under the leadership of Hunkar Shahi.

One of the descendants of Sitaram Rai, Kumkum Chand Jharap drove out Ujjainiyas from the Bhojpur region and captured major parts of the territory.

After that Raja Horil Singh shifted the capital to Dumrao and established Dumraon Raj.

During the Indian rebellion of 1857, a group of 18 British civilians and 50 Indian soldiers was besieged in the Little House at Arrah, by a band of 2500–3000 armed soldiers and around 8000 others under the command of 80-year-old Veer Kunwar Singh, the Zamindar of adjacent Jagdishpur.

A British regiment, dispatched to their assistance from Danapur, was repulsed,[18] but the group withstood the siege for eight days until they were relieved by other East India Company troops.

[19] In 1911 the king of England George V visited Arrah and prayed at the Holy Saviour Church.

The eastern boundary of the town is the Son river which separates and Bhojpuri and Magahi speaking regions of Bihar.

[28] The Arrah sub-division (Tehsil) is headed by an IAS or state Civil service officer of the rank of Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM).

Food of Bhojpuri cuisine includes Litti-Chokha, Makuni (Paratha stuffed with roasted gram flour), Dal Pitthi, Pittha, Aaloo Dum, Jaaur (Kheer) and main snack and sweets are Khurma (sweets made of Chhena), Thekua, Pudukiya, Patal ke Mithai, Anarsa, Gargatta and Laktho.

[31] The festivals celebrated here are Holi, Durgapuja, Chhath, Diwali, Teej, Jitiya, Gai Dadh (Govardhan Puja), Jamdutiya, Eid, Christmas, etc.

[35] After his death in 1817, he was buried in the outer garden of Maulabagh Mosque (called as Bibi Jaan ke Hata or Handa) where his tomb can still be seen.

Masarh is a village 10 km from Arrah, the Lion capitals of Mauryan period have been found here.

Arrah House is a small British building in the premises of Maharaja College.

The Arrah city is very well connected by roads, highways and Rail routes to various cities like Patna, Danapur, Bihta, Buxar, Sasaram and Chhapra in Bihar; and Ghazipur, Mughalsarai and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

The Varanasi-Howrah high-speed rail corridor (HSR) is proposed to pass through Bhojpur district with a Bullet train station at Udwant Nagar.