History
Arrah is an ancient city with references in mythological stories and Greek geographical works. It has been a centre of attraction for Jainism with dozens of old temples and hermitages. It is known for the important battle (Battle of Buxar) in October, 1764, when Mir Kasim, Nawab of Bengal with the support of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-daulla, Nawab of Avadh was defeated by the East India Company Army whilst Henry Vansittart, was Governor General, the key event establishing the British colonialisation of India.
During the Indian rebellion of 1857, a small party of British officers and Indian soldiers was besieged in the Little House at Arrah, by a band of armed soldiers under the command of 80 year old Veer Kunwar Singh, the Zamindar of adjacent Jagdishpur. They withstood the siege for three weeks until relieved by other East India Company troops. Babu Kunwar Singh was the only successful freedom fighter of the rebellion of 1857. The British failed to defeat him. Veer Kunwar Singh (1777–1858), one of the leaders of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 belonged to a royal Kshatriya (Rajput) house of Jagdispur, currently a part of Bhojpur district, Bihar state, India. At the age of 80 years, during India’s First War of Independence (1857), he actively led a select band of armed soldiers against the troops under the command of the East India Company, and also recorded victories in many battles.