Purnia

<!-- See WikiProject Indian cities for details -->Purnia is a city and a Municipal Corporation in Purnia district of the Indian state of Bihar.

Name

The origin of the name appears to have different sources.

The name possibly originates from the Sanskrit word Purna–Aranya which stands for "complete jungle".

Purnia could be an altered form of the old name Purania, derived from the word purain or Lotus, which is said to have grown on the Kosi and Mahananda rivers. This derivation is stated by O'Malley and is also in the old gazetteer.

An alternative could be a derivation from the words Pur Aranya. W.W. Hunter and Buchanan have mentioned the name of Purnia, it being a forested area, using combination of the words purn and aranya (full and forest).

History

The bhats of the Pundir Rajputs, state that, having had their origins in Telangana, the Pundirs are descendants of the great Pundra dynasty. A Pundra king challenged Vasudeva Krishna by imitating his attributes, calling himself Paundraka Vasudeva. He was later killed by Vasudeva Krishna in a battle. The founders of five eastern kingdoms, Angas Vangas, Kalingas, Pundras and Suhmas, shared a common ancestry.

Purnia has a tradition of at least a few centuries behind it. Under the Mughal rule, the district comprised Sarkar Tajpur, east of the Mahananda and Sarkar Purnia, west of the river. Purnia, at that time was a great military seat under the rule of a Fauzadar as...
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