Solar dynasty


According to the Puranic literature, the Solar dynasty or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku. The dynasty is also known as Suryavansha| and along with Lunar dynasty comprises one of the main lineages of the Kshatriya Varna. Rama belonged to the Ikshavaku dynasty. According to the Jain texts, twenty-two out of the twenty-four Jain Tirthankara belonged to this dynasty. Rishabha was the first tirthankar of Jainism. Both refers to the same person. According to Buddhist texts and tradition, Gautama Buddha descended from this dynasty.
The important personalities belonging to this royal house are Mandhatri, Muchukunda, Ambarisha, Bharata Chakravartin, Bahubali, Harishchandra, Dilīpa, Sagara, Raghu, Rama and Pasenadi. Although, both the Hindu Puranas and the Buddhist texts include Shuddodhana, Gautama Buddha and Rahula in their accounts of the Ikshvaku dynasty, but according to the Buddhist texts, Mahasammata, an ancestor of Ikshvaku was the founder of this dynasty, who was elected by the people as the first king of the present era. According to the Puranas, supreme preceptor of the Ikshvaku dynasty was sage Vashishta.

Origins

Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty is the one of the two major indo-aryan dynasties that founds reference in the ancient hindu text, the other being Chandravansha or the Lunar Dynasty. According to Harivamsa, Ikshvaku is considered the primogenitor of the dynasty of Surya and was granted the kingdom of Aryavarta by his father Vaivasvata Manu. Manu settled down in the Dravid region after he survived the great flood. A. K. Mozumdar states that Manu is the one who built a city on the Sarayu and called it Ayodhya meaning the 'invincible city'. This city served as the capital of many kings from the solar dynasty and is also the birthplace of Rama an avatar of Vishnu.
Some hindu texts suggest Rishi Marichi, one of the seven sages and first human creations of Brahma as the progenitor of the dynasty. Marichi's eldest son Kashyapa is said to have settled down in Kashmir. He also contributed to the verses of Holy Vedas. Later, Vivasvan son of Kashyapa and Aditi rose as a prominent hindu god Surya and married Saranyu the daughter of Vishwakarma, the architect of devas. He had many children but Manu was given the responsibility of building the civilization and as a result it formed a dynasty that was named 'Suryavansh' or the solar dynasty. Manu is also the progenitor of the Lunar Dynasty because he married his daughter Ila to Budha, the son of Chandra or the moon god and the couple gave birth to the magnanimous king Pururavas who became the first king of the Chandravansh or the Lunar dynasty.

In Bhagavatha Purana

Ikshvaku and his ancestor Manu are mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana,

In Buddhism

The Buddhist text, Buddhavamsa and Mahavamsa traces the origin of the Shakyas to king Okkaka and gives their genealogy from Mahasammata, an ancestor of Okkaka. This list comprises the names of a number of prominent kings of the Ikshvaku dynasty, namely, Mandhata and Sagara. The genealogy according to the Mahavamsa is as follows:
  1. Okkāka
  2. Okkāmukha
  3. Sivisamjaya
  4. Sihassara
  5. Jayasena
  6. Sihahanu
  7. Suddhodana
  8. Gautama Buddha
  9. Rāhula

    In Jainism

The Ikshvaku dynasty has a significant place in Jainism, as twenty-two Tirthankaras were born in this dynasty.