Poonia
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Punia or Poonia (पूनिया) is a clan or gotra of jats in Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are the descendents of Paunbhadra rishi. 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 Naga race. Shivi and Taxak were neighbourers. After the attack of Alexander the Shivi and Taxak people moved down Panjab 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.
Rathores under the leadership of Bika and Kandal were spreading their rule in Jangladesh. At that time Punia Jat were ruling six states and about 300 villages. 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 kms from present Rajgarh 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.
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Chronoly and origin of the gotra
Ram Swarup Joon has given the chronology of this gotra, obtained from the records of the Bards of Dholpur, in his book ‘History of the Jats’ (1938, 1967) as under:
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.
- Pon Bhadra is the originator of Punia gotra.
- Kalhan Bhadra is the originator of Kalhan gotra.
- Atisur Bhadra had Ajanta Jata Shankar and his son Dahi Bhadra in the lineage. Dahi Bhadra is the originator of Dahiya gotra.
- Jakh Bhadra is the originator of Jakhar gotra.
According to the bards of Dahiyas, the descendants of above spread as under:
(a) Pon Bhadra’s to Haryana, Brij, and Gwalior
(b) Kalhan Bhadra’s to KathiAwar and Gujarat.
(c) Atisur Bhadra’s to Malwa
(d) Jakh Bhadra’s to Punjab and Kashmir
(e) Dahi Bhadra’s to Punjab and Central Asia
Visit of Punia kingdom by Fa-Hien
The Cinese traveler Fa-Hien reached Mathura after crossing Sindhu River through the following route:
Udyana (present Swat) >>Kandahar>>Taxila>>Purushpur>>Hilda>>Kigdom of Lo-e>>Kingdom of Poh-na >>Bhida (Punjab)>>Mathura
The text of Fa-Hien's account of his journey through Punjab is described by him in Chapter - XIV of the book by JAMES LEGGE : A RECORD OF BUDDHISTIC KINGDOMS
(Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline Translated and annotated with a Corean recension of the Chinese text)
"CHAPTER XIV: DEATH OF HWUY-KING IN THE LITTLE SNOWY MOUNTAINS. LO-E. POHNA. CROSSING THE INDUS TO THE EAST.
Having stayed there till the third month of winter, Fa-hien and the two others,(1) proceeding southwards, crossed the Little Snowy mountains.(2) On them the snow lies accumulated both winter and summer. On the north (side) of the mountains, in the shade, they suddenly encountered a cold wind which made them shiver and become unable to speak. Hwuy-king could not go any farther. A white froth came from his mouth, and he said to Fa-hien, "I cannot live any longer. Do you immediately go away, that we do not all die here;" and with these words he died.(3) Fa-hien stroked the corpse, and cried out piteously, "Our original plan has failed;—it is fate.(4) What can we do?" He then again exerted himself, and they succeeded in crossing to the south of the range, and arrived in the kingdom of Lo-e,(5) where there were nearly three thousand monks, students of both the mahayana and hinayana. Here they stayed for the summer retreat,(6) and when that was over, they went on to the south, and ten days' journey brought them to the kingdom of Poh-na,(7) where there are also more than three thousand monks, all students of the hinayana. Proceeding from this place for three days, they again crossed the Indus, where the country on each side was low and level.(8)
NOTES
(1) These must have been Tao-ching and Hwuy-king.
(2) Probably the Safeid Koh, and on the way to the Kohat pass.
(3) All the texts have Kwuy-king. See chapter xii, note 13.
(4) A very natural exclamation, but out of place and inconsistent from the lips of Fa-hien. The Chinese character {.}, which he employed, may be rendered rightly by "fate" or "destiny;" but the fate is not unintelligent. The term implies a factor, or fa-tor, and supposes the ordination of Heaven or God. A Confucian idea for the moment overcame his Buddhism.
(5) Lo-e, or Rohi, is a name for Afghanistan; but only a portion of it can be here intended.
(6) We are now therefore in 404.
(7) No doubt the present district of Bannu, in the Lieutenant-Governorship of the Punjab, between 32d 10s and 33d 15s N. lat., and 70d 26s and 72d E. lon. See Hunter's Gazetteer of India, i, p. 393.
(8) They had then crossed the Indus before. They had done so, indeed, twice; first, from north to south, at Skardo or east of it; and second, as described in chapter vii."
Conclusions
1. James Legge has commented at footnote – 5 that Fa-Hien crossed through the Kingdom of Lo-e that means `Rohi'. In Rajasthan Rohi means land. Fa-Hien had moved through the Land of Ponya or Punia. Here James Legge could not properly understand about the Kingdom of Lo-e. Dr Natthan Singh has mentioned in Jat Itihasa (page 113) about the existence of Rohe tribe in Afghanistan, the descendants of whom are Rohela or Ruhela Jats found in Rajasthan. Here it is interesting to note that in Afghanistan O and U are interchangable. Similarly L and R are also interchangable. Thus what Fa-Hien mentions as Kingdom of Lo-e is the Kingdom of Ruhela Jats in Afghanistan.
2.He has interpreted Poh-na as Bannu in Punjab. Infact it is used for Ponya.
3. This period was 404 AD.
4. This period pertains to the rule of Punia Jats in Punjab, Haryana and part of Rajasthan. This has been mentioned by Thakur Deshraj (page 617) that the capital of Punias was at Jhasal near border of Hisar district.
5. Ram Swarup Joon has also mentioned about Punia clan – "They are found in Bikaner, Luharu and district Hissar in large numbers. They had their capital in Bikaner. The Ponya king drove out the Dahiya rulers of Jodhpur region. They have about 100 villages in Rajgarh region. They are still found in large numbers in Deraghazi Khan and Bannu and they're all of who are followers of Islam. They have 100 villages in Tehsil in Dadri and about 10 In Aligarh. A few of them inhabit Rohtak also."
6. James Legge did not have idea about Punia clan, but Fa-Hien had clearly written it as Kingdom of Poh-na which means The Kingdom of Ponya or Punias. The Ruhela and Punia kigdoms were in neighbourhood at that time in Afghanistan.
7. Y and J are interchangeable. `Punjab' can be written as `Punyab'. Punyab=Punya+ab means the land of Punya.
8. Punya as tribe has been mentioned in Rigveda also in Punjab. Punjab must derive its name from Punya, which later was interpreted as land of five rivers.
Villages in Jhunjhunu district
Shyampura(near Nua), Mohabbatsari(near Mukund garh)
Villages in Sikar district
Balod Bari, beri, bibipur, bidsar, chudi miyan, gungara piprali, hapas, kishanpura, lalpur, mandela, mirjwas, nabipura, punia ka baas, raghunathpura ramgarh, rajpur, sikar sulkhania, vijaypura rulyanimali
Notable persons from this gotra
- Krishna Poonia - Discuss thrower
- Navdeep Poonia - Cricket
- N.L. Poonia - Sena meda
- D.S. Poonia - IAS Delhi
- Jogendra Poonia - IRS Rajasthan
- Pratap Bhanu Poonia - RAS Rajasthan
- Ram Swaroop Poonia, Sadulpur, Chief Vigilance Officer, Railways , IES 1982
Reference
- Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934.
- Ram Swarup Joon: History of the Jats, Rohtak, India (1938, 1967)
- JAMES LEGGE : A RECORD OF BUDDHISTIC KINGDOMS (Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline Translated and annotated with a Corean recension of the Chinese text)
External link
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