Ikshvaku Dynasty: The Solar Race of Kings

Late Satya Yuga - Early Treta Yuga

The Ikshvaku dynasty, known in Sanskrit as Ikṣvāku-vaṃśa or Sūrya-vaṃśa (“Lineage of the Sun”), represents the oldest and most illustrious royal family in the sacred history of Bhārata (India). It traces its divine origin to Vivasvān (Sūrya), the solar deity, who symbolizes not only light and energy but also dharma — the cosmic order that sustains the worlds.

In the Ṛgveda (10.170.2) and the Manu-smṛti (1.61–63), Sūrya’s son Vaivasvata Manu emerges as the progenitor of humankind and the first lawgiver. It is he who survives the Great Deluge (Mahāpralaya), guided by Nārāyaṇa in the form of Matsya, the fish incarnation of Viṣṇu.

After the flood subsides, Manu performs the Aśvamedha sacrifice on the banks of the Sarayū, and the gods bless him with sons who will repopulate the Earth and rule according to ṛta — the divine order of truth and justice.

Among these sons, Ikṣvāku, born from Manu’s queen Śatarūpā, inherits the mantle of kingship. Thus begins the human age of sovereignty — the transition from divine to mortal rule.

Ikshvaku: The First King of Ayodhyā

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Bāla Kāṇḍa 70.30–31) introduces Ikṣvāku as ādyo narapatiḥ — the “first among human kings.” In the Vāyu Purāṇa (88.96–102) and Bhāgavata Purāṇa (9.6.1–6), Ikṣvāku is depicted as a monarch of unparalleled virtue and vigor, endowed with the wisdom of the Vedas and the might of the Sun himself.

Manu establishes his capital at Ayodhyā, a city he builds along the Sarayū, described in Vālmīki’s epic as a mirror of heaven itself — “twelve yojanas long and three broad, walled and radiant, filled with gardens and shining mansions” (Bāla Kāṇḍa 5.5–9). Upon Manu’s retirement to the forest for penance, Ikṣvāku ascends the throne as the first sovereign of Earth, marking the dawn of organized kingship (rājadharma).

His reign is the archetype of righteous monarchy. The gods, pleased by his governance, send rains in proper season; the rivers flow pure, crops flourish, and peace prevails. Ikṣvāku performs numerous yajñas — particularly the Viśvajit and Aśvamedha — symbolizing his universal sovereignty and sacrifice for the welfare of his subjects.

The Sons of Ikṣvāku and the Expansion of the Solar Race

According to the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (9.6.6) and Vishṇu Purāṇa (4.2.2–7), Ikṣvāku had one hundred sons, each established as ruler of a region or province. His eldest son Vikukṣi, known also as Śaśāda, succeeded him as king of Ayodhyā, though his ascension was marred by a moral trial.

In the Rāmāyaṇa, we are told that Ikṣvāku once ordered Vikukṣi to gather pure flesh for a sacred offering. Famished, the prince ate a portion of the game he hunted. When the sage Vasiṣṭha discovered this, he declared the offering impure. In consequence, Vikukṣi was banished — earning the epithet Śaśāda (“one who ate the hare”). Upon Ikṣvāku’s death, Vikukṣi returned, purified, and ruled justly.

Among Ikṣvāku’s other sons were Nimi, who founded the Videha kingdom (later home to King Janaka and Sītā), and Daṇḍa, who established Daṇḍakāraṇya in the south. Thus, through Ikṣvāku’s progeny, the Solar dynasty’s influence extended across the Indian subcontinent, linking future epic realms — Kosala, Videha, and Daṇḍaka — under one ancestral banner.

The Sacred Line of Kings: From Sagara to Daśaratha

The genealogies preserved in the Vāyu Purāṇa, Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, and Harivaṃśa detail a continuous line of successors, each with their own divine encounters and mythic deeds.

Among these, King Sagara stands as one of the greatest rulers.

Renowned for subduing the entire Earth and performing the Aśvamedha a hundred times, he embodies the expansionist vigor of the Solar race. His story — of his sixty thousand sons burnt to ashes by Sage Kapila, and their deliverance through his descendant Bhagiratha, who brought the river Gaṅgā down to Earth — symbolizes purification and redemption, the spiritual continuity of the dynasty.

Later kings like Dilīpa, Aja, and Daśaratha preserve the moral ideal of kingship. By Daśaratha’s time, the line of Ikṣvāku had ruled Ayodhyā for more than sixty generations. In Daśaratha’s son, Śrī Rāma, the dynasty reaches divine culmination — the human form of Viṣṇu himself, born to restore balance and uphold the eternal law of dharma.

Sources:

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa 1.1–1.5, 70–77 (Critical Edition)

Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9.6–9.13

Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book IV, ch. 2–4

Vāyu Purāṇa, ch. 88–90

Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, ch. 7–9

Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇuparva 1–5

Manu-smṛti, ch. 1

Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva 59, Ādi Parva 75