"The name of the place is said to be derived from Sur Sen, a chieftain who once lived there. After his death, it lapsed once more into jungle, until it was reclaimed by two brothers—Mahesh Jha and Amar Jha, the founders of the present Sursand family. These brothers, the story runs, left their home at Ghograha, in the district of Darbhanga, and came to settle at Jadupati, a village belonging to them, 8 miles from Sursand. One day Mahesh Jha went with his astrologer to hunt in the woods at Sursand, and came across the ruins of Sur Sen's fort. The astrologer having told him that the man who made a home there would be a Raja, Mahesh Jha acted on his advice and cleared the jungle. The several branches of the Sursand family sprang from his son, Chaudhri Kelwal Krishna. Amar Jha's branch did not prosper, and his descendants are impoverished. Chaudhri Hirdai Narayan, a descendant of the elder branch, added largely to the family estates."