Arrah

Arrah, also spelled Arra, Arah or Ara, is a city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Bihar and the administrative headquarters of Bhojpur district, which was formerly known as Shahabad district. It stands near the confluence of the Ganges and Sone rivers, some 39 kilometres from Danapur and 58 kilometres from Patna. During the British Raj it served as the administrative headquarters of the historical Shahabad district and was its most populous urban centre. The city holds an important place in Indian history through the Siege of Arrah, an event of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and today it is a cultural centre of the Bhojpuri speaking region. Its economy is driven by agriculture and by the trade of building materials, mainly sand and bricks from the riverine plains. A Jain inscription found at nearby Masarh village mentions the place as Aramnagar, and the Mughal emperor Babur is recorded as camping at Arrah in 1529.