The town is associated with the pre-Islamic king As'ad al-Kamil.[1] The amir Dhu'l-Sharafayn Muhammad ibn Ja'far, son of the imam al-Qasim ibn 'Ali al-'Ayyani (who died in 1085), made Shaharah his capital and was later buried here.[1] The town was historically also known as Shaharat al-Amir after him.[1] Another former name for the town was Mi'attiq.[1]

The 10th-century author al-Hamdani mentions Shaharah as a mountain and fortress, and it appears in historical sources throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period.[2] It was historically a center of learning and was home to several prominent jurists, scholars, and poets.[1] It was especially important during the Yemeni-Ottoman conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries, when it served as one of the most important strongholds in Yemen's western mountains.[2] The Ottomans made multiple attempts to capture Shaharah, but they only succeeded once - in 1587 (995 AH) under the governor Mustafa Asim Pasha.[1] Al-Mansur al-Qasim, the Zaydi Imam of Yemen, died at Shaharah in 1620 CE (1029 AH).[2] Shaharah had served as his capital, and the town's congregational mosque is attributed to him.[1] The poet Zaynab bint Muhammad al-Shahariyyah, who died in 1702 (1114 AH), was from Shaharah; her poetry was never compiled into a diwan but has "a respectable place in Yemeni literature".[1]

The Ottomans attempted to besiege Shaharah in 1905 but were unsuccessful.[1]