Pundir

The Pundir (also spelled Pandeer, Pandir, Pundhir, Pundeer or Poondir) is a Suryavanshi clan of Rajputs based in Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh, one of the thirty six royal Rajput clans. The word itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "Purandara" (पुरन्दर) literally meaning "the destroyer of enemy" or "the destroyer of cities". The Pundir Rajputs hold riyasat in Nahan, Garhwal, Nagaur and Saharanpur where their Kuldevis are situated. Their shakha is Koolwal and their Kuldevis are Shakumbhri Devi Saharanpur and Dhadimati Mata in Saharanpur and Rajasthan along with Punyakshini Devi in Garhwal. They belong to Pulastya gotra. Most of the Pundirs are today based mainly around the North Indian states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.

Origin

The Pundir clan has its origins from Raja Pundarik, the fourth king in line after Kusha. Pundarik is revered as a Rishi and his temple is situated in Katheugi village of the Kullu district in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The Rishi is depicted as a white Nāga, and in the Puranic lore Pundarik is the name of a White Naga. Kusha, the first born of Sita and Ram, is said to have been the progenitor of the Pundirs.

Martial 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, his son, Dhir Singh 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.[1]


References
  1. 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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