In Hindu mythology, the Solar dynasty (IAST: Suryavaṃśa or Ravivaṃśa in Sanskrit) or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.[2] The dynasty is also known as Sūryavaṃśa ("Solar dynasty" or "Descendants of the Sun") which means that this dynasty prays to the Sun as their God and their originator (the Gayatri Mantra is a prayer offered to the Sun God as the Sun is the main deity of the Solar Dynasty)[citation needed], and along with Lunar dynasty comprises one of the main lineages of the Kshatriya Varna.[3]
The first Tirthankara of Jainism, Rishabhanatha himself was King Ikshvaku. Further, 21 Tirthankaras of Jainism were born in this dynasty.[4][5]
According to Buddhist texts and tradition, The Buddha[citation needed] descended from this dynasty. Many later kings of the Indian subcontinent claimed to be of Suryavamsha descent.
Suryavamsha, or the Solar Dynasty, is one of the two major legendary Kshatriya dynasties found in Hindu Puranic and epic literature, the other being Chandravamsha or the Lunar Dynasty. According to Harivamsa, Ikshvaku is considered the primogenitor of the dynasty of, and was granted the kingdom of Aryavarta by his father Vaivasvata Manu. Manu settled down in the Aryavarta region after he survived the great flood. A. K. Mozumdar states that Manu is the one who built a city on the Sarayu (being the river that his mother Sanjana was the goddess of) and called it Ayodhya meaning the 'invincible city'. This city served as the capital of many kings from the solar dynasty and is also believed to be the birthplace of Rama.[8]
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 (Kashyapa-Meru or Kashyameru). He also contributed to the verses of the Vedas. Later, Vivasvan, son of Kashyapa and Aditi, famously known as the Hindu god Surya married Saranyu who was the daughter of Vishvakarman, 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 'Suryavamsha' 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 Chandravamsha, or the Lunar dynasty.[9]
Historical claimants
After the death of the powerful king Prasenjit and disappearance of his successor Viḍūḍabha after defeating the Shakyas, the kingdom of Kosala declined. King Sumitra, who regarded himself to be the last Suryavamsha ruler, was defeated by the powerful emperor Mahapadma Nanda of Magadha in 362 BCE. However, he wasn't killed, and fled to Rohtas, located in present-day Bihar.[10]
Bhagavata Purana
Ikshvaku and his ancestor Manu are also mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana (Canto 9, Chapter 1),
योऽसौ सत्यव्रतो नाम राजर्षिर्द्रविडेश्वर: ।
ज्ञानं योऽतीतकल्पान्ते लेभे पुरुषसेवया ॥
The Buddhist text, Buddhavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa (II, 1–24) traces the origin of the Shakyas to king Okkaka (Pali equivalent to Sanskrit Ikshvaku) 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.[12] The genealogy according to the Mahavamsa is as follows:[13][14]
Rishabhanatha (son of King Nabhi), the founder of Jainism in the present Avasarpani era (descending half time cycle as per Jain cosmology and Manvantara in hindu cosmology) is said to have founded the Ikshvaku dynasty. The name for the Ikshvaku dynasty comes from the word ikhsu (sugarcane), another name of Rishabhanatha,[17] because he taught people how to extract ikshu-rasa (sugarcane-juice).[18]
Janhu (eldest son of Sagara), the one who flooded village of Nagas with waters of Ganga leading to turning of sixty thousand sons of Sagara into ashes by Jawalanprabha (emperor of Nagas)
^Ikshaku tribeThe Mahabharata translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883 -1896), Book 3: Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva: Section CVI, p. 228 'There was born in the family of the Ikshaku, a ruler of the earth named Sagara, endued with beauty, and strength...".
^"ŚB 9.1.2-3". vedabase.io. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^Law, B.C. (1973). Tribes in Ancient India, Bhandarkar Oriental Series No.4, Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, p.246
^Misra, V.S. (2007). Ancient Indian Dynasties, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN81-7276-413-8, p.286
^Geiger, Wilhelm (tr.) (1912). "Mahavamsa, Chapter II". Ceylon Government Information Dept., Colombo (in lakdvia.org website). Retrieved 26 October 2009.
