Punia (Hinduism)
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Punia or Poonia is a clan or gotra of jats in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are the descendants of Chandravanshi king Paunbhadra, son of Virabhadra. [1]
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[edit] Origin
The historian Ram Swarup Joon has given the chronology of Virabhadra, obtained from the records of the Bards of Dholpur, in his book ‘History of the Jats’ (1938, 1967) as under: [2]
In the branch of Puru there was ‘Sanyati’ whose son was Virabhadra. Virabhadra had four sons 1. Pon Bhadra 2. Kalhan bhadra 3. Atisur Bhadra and 4. Jakh Bhadra. Ponbhadra is the originator of Punia gotra. Pon Bhadra’s descendants Punias moved to Haryana, Brij, and Gwalior.
[edit] History
As per Hisar Gazetteer they are considered to be of Shiva or Shivi gotra. The philosophy of their origin from the locks of Shiva indicates that they belong to the Nagavanshi race. Shivi and Taxak were neighbourers. After the attack of Alexander the Great the Shivi and Taxak people moved down Punjab and occupied Jangladesh. Punia Gotra Jats were one of them to occupy parts of Jangladesh, that corresponds to the former princely state of Bikaner. They reached here in early period of Christian era and ruled till 15th century when Rathores occupied the Jangladesh. [3]
Rathores under the leadership of Bika and Kandal were spreading their rule in Jangladesh in late fifteenth century. At that time Punia Jats were ruling six states and about 300 villages. The major towns in their rule were Bahaderan, Ajitpur, Sidhmukh, Rajgarh, Dadrewoh, Sankoo, etc. Their king was Kanhadev.[4]
The extent of rule of Punias spread from Jhasal, which was their capital, to Marod. Marod town is situated at a distance of about 40 km from present Rajgarh, Rajasthan town in Rajasthan. Godara Jats had aligned with Rathores due to which Punias faced a defeat and moved to Uttar Pradesh. Punias had strongly retaliated and were able to kill Rathore Raja Rai Singh. [5]
The period of Rahtore domination over these patriarchal communities was intermediate between Timur's and Baber's invasion of India,. The former, who was the founder of the Chagatai dynasty, boasts of the myriads of Jat souls he " consigned to perdition " on the desert plains of India, as well as in Transoxiana so we may conclude that successive migrations of these people from the great " storehouse of nations " went to the lands east of the Indus and that the Jat communities who elected Beeka as their sovereign, had been established therein for ages. The extent of their possessions justifies this conclusion ; for nearly the whole of the territory forming the boundaries of Bikaner was possessed by the six Jat cantons namely[6]:—
1. Poonia, 2. Godara, 3. Saran 4. Asiagh 5. Beniwal 6. Johiya, or Joweya
[edit] References
- ^ Dr Mahendra Singh Arya, Dharmpal Singh Dudi, Kishan Singh Faujdar & Vijendra Singh Narwar, Adhunik Jat Itihasa (The modern history of Jats), Agra 1998
- ^ RS Joon: History of the Jats’ (1938, 1967)
- ^ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934.
- ^ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934.
- ^ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934.
- ^ James Tod: Annals and antiquities of Rajasthan
