Dumka - Origin of Name

Origin of Name

There are two theories as to how Dumka got its present name. The first one being that Dumka got its name from the santali word Dumk which mean "shunted" or "small". Back during the British Raj it was a small town compared to Suri and Bhagalpur and hencce the name.

The other theory is that Dumka derives its name from a Persian word damin-i-koh, which means 'skirts (an edge, border or extreme part) of the hills'. The Mughals assigned this name to this and nearby areas on account of presence of hillocks and undulating terrain.