The Pundir is a clan of Rajputs based in Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh.[1]

Deities

Their shakha is Koolwal and their Kuldevis are Shakumbhri Devi Saharanpur and Dhadimati Mata in Saharanpur and Rajasthan along with Punyakshini Devi in Garhwal.

Distribution

Most of the Pundirs are today based mainly around the North Indian states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.

Etomology

The word itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "Purandara" (पुरन्दर) literally meaning "the destroyer of enemy" or "the destroyer of cities".

History

Pundirs were the most powerful military vassals of the Prithviraj Chauhan Empire of Delhi after the 10th century. Chandra Pundir, the ruler of Haridwar, was a great feudatory of Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan. Chandra Pundir, and grandson, Pavas Pundir sacrificed in the struggle with the Turks. After the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan in the second battle of Tarain in AD 1192, the rule of the Turks was established in the country. Even so, the Pundir state remained in Haridwar for two centuries.

Eric Stokes noted that

In the Katha the Pundir Rajputs stood out as the dominant landholders, dwelling together as a formidable clan that had never been properly brought under close administration. A proud, hardy race ... they possessed a long history of turbulence. Significantly they had successfully warded off alien intrusion ... So formidable did they appear as adversaries before the recapture of Delhi at the end of September 1857 that the British left them severely alone, despite their attacks on Deoband town and in similar depredations.[2]

Notable Pundir

References

  1. ↑ Kolenda, Pauline (2003). Caste, Marriage, and Inequality: Essays on North and South India. Rawat Publications. pp. 82: The dominant caste was and is Pundir Rajput, about 40 percent of the population belongs to one or another of the minor or minimal patrilineages of the maximal patrilineage of Pundir Rajputs . Virtually, all male Rajputs trace their. ISBN 978-81-7033-799-7.
  2. ↑ Stokes, Eric (1980). The Peasant and the Raj: Studies in Agrarian Society and Peasant Rebellion in Colonial India. Cambridge University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-52129-770-7.

Further reading

  • Dadhimati Mata Temple
  • Evatt, John T. Historical Record of the Royal Garhwal Rifles (p. 78; p. 103)
  • Roy, K. The Construction of Regiments in the Indian Army: 1859-1913. War in History, 1 April 2001, vol. 8, no. 2 (pp. 127–148)
  • Bajpai, Shiv Chandra. The Northern Frontier of India: Central and Western Sector (p. 23)
  • Siddiqi, Jamal Muhammad. A Historical Survey: Ancient Times to 1803 AD (p. 124; p. 180)
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