IKSHAVAKU DYNASTY 227-305

IKSHAVAKU DYNASTY 227-305

Ikshvaku (Sanskrit: इक्ष्वाकु, ikṣv

āku, from Sanskrit ikṣu, meaning 'one who speaks sweetly'; Pali: Okkāka), one of the ten sons of Manu Vaivaswata, was the first king of the Ikshvaku dynasty, known as Solar dynasty, and the Kingdom of Kosala in ancient India. According to the Vishnu Purana, he had a hundred sons,[1] among whom the eldest was Vikukshi. Ikshvaku's another son, named Nimi, founded the Videha dynasty.[2] . Lord Rama belonged to the Ikshavaku dynasty.  Prince Siddhartha belonged to this dynasty.

The important personalities belonging to this royal house are Bharata, Harishchandra, Dilīpa, Sagara,[5] Raghu, Rama and Pasenadi. Although,  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,[6] . They ruled from the Kosala Kingdom, today known as Awadh in the state of Uttar Pradesh 

The Ikshvakus became independent in the eastern Deccan (modern-day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) from the Satavahanas and established their capital at Nagarjunikonda (Vijayapuri) around 227 AD. Their kingdom was eventually annexed by the Pallavas in the 4th century. Ikshvaku coinage consists of small lead coins with designs inspired by the Satavahanas. Most coins bear elephant/Ujjain symbols and are 11-13 mm in size. This specimen depicts the elephant realistically and is struck on a broad flan