Arrah
Arrah is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. During the British Raj, it served as the administrative headquarters and was considered the most populous urban centre of the historical Shahabad district. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, located near the confluence of the Ganges and Sone rivers, some from Danapur and from Patna.
The city holds an important position in Indian history, mainly because of its role in the Siege of Arrah, an important event during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Today, Arrah is a cultural centre for the Bhojpuri speaking region of India. Its economy is driven by agriculture and the trade of building materials, mainly sand and bricks from the riverine plains.
Etymology
Typonym
According to a Jain inscription found at Masarh village near the town, Arrah is mentioned there as Aramnagar. That "Aramnagar" later become "Arrah".According to mythologies, the word "Arrah" or "Ara" is derived from the Sanskrit word Aranya, which means forest. It suggests that the entire area around modern Ara was heavily forested in the old days.
The name Shahabad is also historically related to Arrah. This name is said to have originated with the Mughal emperor Babur in 1529. In his memoir, the Baburnama, Babur refers to the town he camped in as ārī or āre . After a victory over local Afghan rulers, Babur established his camp at Arrah to proclaim his dominion over Bihar. The title "Shahabad" was reportedly first given to the town itself before the name was extended to encompass the entire district.
In mythologies
According to the Hindu epic Ramayana, sage Vishwamitra, the Guru of Rama, had his Ashram in the region of Arrah. It is also the area where Rama killed the demonness Taraka. In Mahabharata it was the home of the powerful demon called Bakra, whose daily food was human being supplied either by villages of Bakri or Chakrapur, as Arrah was then called. 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. On hearing this, Bhima decided to go himself to the demon as he has eaten a Brahmin's salt, and killed the demon.History
Ancient
The 7th-century Chinese explorer Xuanzang described a place he called Mo-ho-so-lo, which has been identified with the contemporary village of Masarh. He noted that the inhabitants were all Brāhmans who did not respect the law of Buddha, This opinion supports historical analysis that Buddhism, despite its prominence in the Magadha region, never gained a significant hold in the Shahabad district. Archaeological evidence strengthens this opinion, noting a contrast with the neighbouring district of Gaya; while Buddhist images and temples are numerous there, such remains almost disappear as soon as one crosses the Son River into the Arrah region. Xuanzang recounts that a stupa was built in Arrah by the emperor Asoka to commemorate the spot where the Buddha had converted a group of people whom he called "demons of the desert" who fed on human flesh.In ancient India, it was the part of Magadha. In 684BC Arrah was the part of the region ruled by Haryanka dynasty. During Chandragupta Maurya Arrah was the part of the great Magadh empire. The Pillars of Ashoka are found at the Masarh village in Arrah town.
The region's inclusion in the Gupta Empire is established by an inscription at the Mundeshvari Temple referencing a ruling chief in 635 A.D. and another at Deo Barunarak talking about the later Gupta king Jivita Gupta II. After the decline of the Guptas, the area experienced a period of instability and relapsed into barbarism and anarchy, finally coming under the control of local aboriginal chiefs before the medieval era. Apart from such inscriptions, very early Hindu relics are almost as rare as Buddhist ones in the district, with few temples like Deo Barunark dating to a very early period.
It was also the part of the Pala Empire and the Chero empire. Bihiya and Tirawan were the capitals of Chief Ghughulia and Raja Sitaram Rai respectively. Colonial-era accounts note that while the Cheros had lost political dominance, their descendants were still present in the region, particularly concentrated in the Bihiya and the reclaimed jungles around Jagdispur. Historical sources also identify the Bhars and Savars as other principal early inhabitants of the larger Shahabad district.
Medieval
After the takeover of the region by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1193 A.D., the area of modern-day Arrah came under the nominal control of the Delhi Sultanate, though it was largely managed by local Rajput chiefs. For a period, it became part of the Jaunpur Kingdom in 1397 before being reclaimed by the rulers of Delhi. Historical accounts suggest that even into the Mughal era, the control of the central government was not stable, and local zamindars often acted with practical independence.A major battle in the region's medieval history was the prolonged struggle between the indigenous Chero people and the immigrant Ujjainiya Rajputs, who arrived from Malwa in the 14th century. Led by Hunkar Shahi, the Ujjainiyas eventually displaced the Cheros, founding their territory as Bhojpur in honour of their ancestor, Raja Bhoj. The struggle continued for centuries, with the Cheros temporarily recapturing the territory in 1607 before being defeated again by the Ujjainiyas in 1611. The power of the Cheros was finally broken in the 16th century when Sher Shah Suri dispatched his general, Khawás Khán, to subdue them, an act considered one of Sher Shah's major military accomplishments. In 1604 Chieftain Narayan Mal got a land grant from Jahangir. After that Raja Horil Singh shifted the capital to Dumrao and established Dumraon Raj.
In 1529, Babur conquered Bihar to subdue the local Afghan rulers and, after defeating the allied chiefs, he established his camp in Arrah to rejoice and assert his rule over the region. The Shahabad District Gazetteer records a local tradition identifying the place of his camp as being near the present-day Judge's Court. His personal memoirs record anecdotes from his time in the city, including riding out from his camp to see the local water lilies, whose seeds he noted resembled pistachio nuts.
During the Mughal Empire, Arrah was as an important pargana. During Akbar's rule, It was granted as a jagir, first to Mi’r Mu’izzul-Mulk, who soon faced a rebellion in 1580 from other nobles in the province. Later when the jagirdar of Arrah was Farhat Khan, the town became a center of a major conflict with the local Ujjainiya chieftain, Gajpati. These rebels temporarily seized control of Arrah from Mi’r Mu’izzul-Mulk. According to Akbarnama, Mi’r Mu’izzul-Mulk granted an interview to another rebel, Bahádur, but took an uncompromising stance, stating that "his crimes could only be cleansed with blood". During this period, Unable to confront Gajpati's large force, Farhat Khan retreated in the fort at Arrah. The ensuing struggle involved battles near the fort and on the Sone River, which ultimately led to the deaths of both Farhat Khan and his son Farhang Khan.
Modern
British Rule
Colonial-era ethnographers like George Abraham Grierson characterised the Bhojpuri-speaking people of the Shahabad district as having a strong warlike tradition. Grierson described them as an "alert and active nationality", noting that the region provided a "rich mine of recruitment" for the Bengal Army of the East India Company.In spite of its role as the administrative center for the whole Shahabad district under British rule, Arrah's appropriateness for this position drew early disapproval. In a survey of the region in 1812-13, the British official Francis Buchanan documented his incomprehension over the choice, concluding that Arrah was not a center of trade, was hard to access, and was not salubrious. He suggested a complete administrative restructuring, proposing that a more central and healthier place for the courts could be found if the district's boundaries were redrawn along the natural barriers of the Ganges, Son, and Karmanasa rivers. His observations pointed to broader planning issues, as he also found that many police houses were awkwardly and non-centrally located within their respective subdivisions.
The 18th century, which saw the downfall of the Mughal Empire and the rise of Britishers, was a turbulent period for the region. The area around Arrah witnessed military campaigns, including a battle at Jagdispur in 1744, where the rebellious general of Alivardi Khan, Mustafá Khán, was defeated and killed. The following year, a large Maratha Army under Raghuji Bhonsle made a major incursion into Bihar, camping in the vicinity of the district. The local zamindars of Bhojpur often acted as independent powers; in 1762, when the Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim, marched to Shahabad to assert his authority, these zamindars resisted and then fled to seek refuge with the Nawab of Awadh. In 1764, the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-daula, led an army into Shahabad which caused widespread devastation, burning and plundering the countryside before entrenching itself at Buxar.
After the Battle of Buxar the British took control over Arrah. However, British control was not immediately secure. The area was affected by the revolt of Chait Singh, the Raja of Benares, in 1781. Chait Singh's family had previously seized parts of the north-western Shahabad district to establish a strategic base, and his rebellion continued the pattern of regional opposition to centralised authority.
Revolt of 1857
According to historical accounts, after the outbreak of the rebellion in May 1857, the government officers in Arrah, including Magistrate Herwald Wake, resolved to remain in the town. A local railway engineer, Vicars Boyle, fortified a small two-storied building to serve as a defensive position. On 25 July, sepoy regiments that had mutinied at Dinapore reached Arrah and were joined by Kunwar Singh and his forces, which numbered around 2,000 men. The small European and Eurasian contingent, accompanied by 50 Sikh policemen, barricaded themselves inside Boyle's fortified house on 26 July and withstood a week-long siege.On 26 July, the small European and Eurasian contingent of roughly 16 individuals, accompanied by 50 Sikh policemen, barricaded themselves inside Boyle's fortified house. For a week, this garrison was besieged by a force estimated to be in the thousands. An initial British force of about 415 soldiers dispatched from Dinapore to end the siege was ambushed on 29 July. The force, whose white summer uniforms made them visible targets in the dark, was forced to retreat and sustained heavy casualties. During this retreat, two civilians, Ross Mangles and William Fraser McDonell, were recognised for their actions in saving the lives of wounded soldiers, and both were subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross.
The siege concluded on 2 August, when a second British force of around 150 soldiers and volunteers, led by Vincent Eyre, advanced from Buxar. Eyre's column engaged and defeated Kunwar Singh's army in a battle near the village of Gujrajganj and reached the besieged garrison
The relief of the Arrah house did not end the rebellion in the area. For several months afterward, the forces of Kunwar Singh remained in control of the countryside, particularly the jungles around Jagdispur. British campaigns to subdue them, first under Edward Lugard and later under General Douglas, were hampered by the difficult terrain and monsoon rains. During this period, rebel parties were highly active in the region and at one point swooped down upon Arrah, and fired a number of bungalows. The conflict in the district only subsided in October 1857, after a large-scale operation to encircle the rebels. Though the main body of Kunwar Singh's forces managed to break through the cordon and escape towards the Kaimur hills, they suffered heavy losses during a pursuit led by Henry Havelock.