Solar dynasty

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The Solar dynasty or Sūryavaṃśa (lit. 'Descendants of the Sun'; Sanskrit: सूर्यवंश), also called the Ikshvaku dynasty, is a legendary Indian dynasty said to have been founded by Ikshvaku. In Hindu literature, it ruled the Kosala Kingdom with their capital at Ayodhya and later at Shravasti. They prayed to their clan deity Surya (a Hindu solar deity), after whom the dynasty formed its namesake. Along with the Lunar dynasty, the Solar dynasty comprises one of the main lineages of the Kshatriya varna in Hinduism.^[2]

According to Jain literature, the first Tirthankara of Jainism, Rishabhanatha himself, was King Ikshvaku. Twenty-one further Tirthankaras were born in this dynasty.^[3][4]

According to Buddhist literature, Gautama Buddha descended from the this dynasty.

The important personalities belonging to this royal house are Mandhatri, Muchukunda, Ambarisha, Bharata, Bahubali, Harishchandra, Dilīpa, Sagara,^[5] Raghu, Dasharatha, Rama, and Pasenadi. 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 who was elected by the people as the first king of the present era, was the founder of this dynasty.^[6]