The present Bhojpur district was established in 1972. Previously this district was part of the old Shahabad district. In the year 1972, Shahabad district was split into two parts namely Bhojpur and Rohtas. Buxar was a subsection of the old Bhojpur district. In 1992 Buxar became a separate district and the rest of Bhojpur district now has three subdivisions: Ara Sadar, Jagdishpur and Piro. The city of Ara is the headquarters of the district and also the main city. The district is bounded on the north by Saran (Bihar) district and Balia district in Uttar Pradesh; to the south by the Rohtas district; on the west by Buxar district and on the east by Patna, Jahanabad and Arwal district. The Bhojpur district is closely related to that of the Shahabad main district, which had an ancient and interesting history. There are also indications that the area was inhabited in prehistoric times. The 1961 census report of Shahabad describes the history of the district in the following way.
Ara, the current district headquarters, is said to take its name from the Sanskrit word ARANYA, meaning forest. It suggests that the entire area around modern Ara used to be heavily forested. According to mythology, the sage Vishwamitra, the guru of RAMA, had his Ashram somewhere in this region. The 1961 Census Report also describes the early period of the old Shahabad District, which includes the present day Bhojpur District as: In the past, Shahabad was part of the ancient kingdom of Magadh, which also included parts of todays Patna & Gaya district. Although incorporated into the kingdom of Emperor ASHOKA, the general absence of Buddhist monuments from more of the district suggests that it remained virtually immune to the Buddhist influence of the time.
