User:KARTIKEY PUNDHIR

PUNDHIR RAJPUT HISTORY

The Pundir (also spelled Pandeer, Pandir, Pundhir, Pundeer, Poondir or Poondeer) is a Suryavanshi branch of Rajputs. The word itself is derived from the Sanskrit word Purandara literally meaning "the destroyer of forts". 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 in Saharanpur and Rajasthan along with Punyakshini Devi in Garhwal with their gotra being Pulastya and Parashar. Most of the Pundirs are today based mainly around the North Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana. Elliot writes that in the Haridwar region of Uttar Pradesh, where they are most prominent today, over 1,440 villages are claimed by Pundir Rajputs with high concentrations in the districts of Dehradun, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh and Etawah. According to the British census of 1891 the population of the Pundir Rajputs was recorded at approximately 29,000.

Pulastya was one of the ten Prajapati or mind-born sons of Brahma and one of the Saptarishis (Seven Great Sages Rishi). He was the medium through which some of the Puranas were communicated to man. He received the Vishnu Purana from Brahma and communicated it to Parashara, who made it known to mankind. He was father of Visravas who was the father of Kubera and Ravana, and all the Rakshasas are supposed to have sprung from him. Pulastya Rishi was married to one of Kardam ji's nine daughters named Havirbhoo. Pulastya Rishi had two sons - Maharshi Agastya and Visravas. Vishravaa had two wives: one was Kekasi who gave birth to Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana; and another was Ilavida and had a son named Kuber.

he Pundir clan has its origins with 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 and the legend of Pundarik Rishi also affirms his birth as a Naga from an earthen pot. Kusha, the first born of Sita & Ram, is said to have been the progenitor of the Pundirs.

Pundir's directly receive their surname from Maharaja Pundrik, who was great grandson of Maharaja Kush, elder son of Maharaja Rama of Ramayana. Their younger son when migrated to North Western Border assume the title from their father. Original seat of Pundirs is Pundri in Haryana near Kurukshetra. After getting defeated from Chauhan kings of Delhi, when latter took the help from Tomars of Kannauj, most of the Pundirs settled in Saharanpur-Muzzaffarnagar area after easily defeating Gujjars in the region. Pundirs ruled upto Aligarh and till independence Parashar Gotra of Pundirs have Riyasats in Aligarh District.