Suryavansha (Ikshvaku line)

01From Manu to Ikshvaku

Vivasvan, the Sun, was father of Vaivasvata Manu, the Manu of our present manvantara. Manu’s eldest son Ikshvaku took Ayodhya, and every king of the line is an Aikshvaka after him. When Vasishtha recites the genealogy at Sita’s wedding in the Bala Kanda, he names Kukshi, Vikukshi, Bana, Anaranya and on down the generations, so that Janaka will know exactly whose son is asking for his daughter. The Vishnu Purana and the ninth skandha of the Bhagavata give the same house in fuller form, with some names and their order differing from text to text.

02Kings who kept their word

Mandhata, son of Yuvanashva, is remembered as a chakravartin. Harishchandra gave away his kingdom, his wife and son, and himself, rather than break a promise to Vishvamitra. Sagara’s sixty thousand sons were burned to ash by the gaze of Kapila Muni while searching for the Ashvamedha horse, and it took three generations, Anshuman, Dilipa and then Bhagiratha, to bring Ganga down from heaven over those ashes. That is why the river is called Bhagirathi where she leaves Gangotri.

Place · Capital of Kosala in the age of the Buddha, 6th–5th century BCEShravasti (Saheth-Maheth)The capital of Kosala on the Rapti, which the Ramayana gives to Lava, son of Shri Rama, where the Buddha spent more rainy seasons than anywhere else, and which Jains honour as the birthplace of Sambhavanath. Its ruins are the twin mounds of Saheth and Maheth.Read →

03Raghu, Aja, Dasharatha, Rama

Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha takes the last stretch of the line king by king: Dilipa, who offered his own body to a lion to save Vasishtha’s cow Nandini; Raghu, whose digvijaya gave the house its second name, Raghukula; Aja, who won Indumati at her svayamvara; Dasharatha; and Shri Rama, seventh avatara of Bhagwan Vishnu in the Treta Yuga. Rama’s rule became the measure every later Indian king was held to. His sons Kusha and Lava divided the kingdom, Kusha at Kushavati and Lava at Shravasti, and Kusha later returned to Ayodhya.

04Down to the Kali Yuga

The line did not end with Rama. The Mahabharata names Brihadbala, king of Kosala, fighting for the Kauravas at Kurukshetra, where Abhimanyu killed him. The Puranas continue the house into the Kali Yuga as a list of future kings, and count Prasenajit, the Kosala king who befriended the Buddha, among the Aikshvakas. The Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas end the Solar line with Sumitra. Shakya clan records in the Pali texts also trace their descent from Okkaka, the Pali form of Ikshvaku.

Place · Tirtha of Shri Ram’s exileChitrakootThe hill country on the Mandakini where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana lived for much of their exile, and where Bharata came to beg Rama to return.Read →

The rulers

1. 1Vaivasvata ManuSon of Vivasvan; father of the lineSatya Yuga (traditional)
2. 2IkshvakuFirst king at Ayodhya; the line is named for himSatya Yuga (traditional)
3. 3KukshiSatya Yuga (traditional)
4. 4AnaranyaFought Ravana, by the Uttara Kandatraditional
5. 5MandhataSon of Yuvanashva; a chakravartintraditional
6. 6TrishankuVishvamitra raised him toward heaven bodilytraditional
7. 7HarishchandraSon of Trishanku; gave up everything for truthtraditional
8. 8SagaraHis Ashvamedha horse led his sons to Kapila Munitraditional
9. 9AnshumanGrandson of Sagara; recovered the horsetraditional
10. 10BhagirathaBrought Ganga down to earthtraditional
11. 11AmbarishaDevotee protected by the Sudarshana from Durvasatraditional
12. 12Dilipa (Khatvanga line, father of Raghu)Served Nandini the cow; Raghuvamsha canto 2Treta Yuga (traditional)
13. 13RaghuDigvijaya; the house is called Raghukula after himTreta Yuga (traditional)
14. 14AjaHusband of IndumatiTreta Yuga (traditional)
15. 15DasharathaPerformed the putrakameshti yajnaTreta Yuga (traditional)
16. 16Shri RamaSeventh avatara of Bhagwan VishnuTreta Yuga (traditional)
17. 17KushaRuled from Kushavati, then AyodhyaTreta Yuga (traditional)
18. 18AtithiSon of Kusha, by the Raghuvamshatraditional
19. 19BrihadbalaKilled by Abhimanyu at KurukshetraDvapara Yuga (traditional)
20. 20Prasenajit of KosalaCounted an Aikshvaka by the Puranasc. 6th–5th century BCE
21. 21SumitraLast of the line in the Vishnu PuranaKali Yuga (Puranic list)

What they left

• The Valmiki Ramayana, the adi-kavya, and the ideal of Ramarajya
• Ayodhya as one of the seven moksha-puris
• The katha of Bhagiratha and the descent of Ganga, told at every ghat
• Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas
• Later royal houses in India and Southeast Asia claiming Suryavanshi descent