Shakya Caste Category | Suryavanshi Kshatriya
Shakya caste is part of Suryavanshi Kshatriya community. They belong to the lineage of Lord Rama’s son Kusha as mentioned in Vishnu Puran, hence they are also known as Kushvanshi Kshatriya. Gotra of Shakya clan is Gautam, derived from Gautam Maharishi. Also, the Shakya community in North Uttar Pradesh and Nepal, is known Shakya Brahmins or Shakya Pandits. They were state priests for many North Indian and East Asian kingdoms and still function as priests in many temples, especially in Nepal.
Vishhu Purana (Book 4, Chapter 22) lists King Sakya as one of the last kings of the Suryavansha lineage. Sakya’s son was Suddhoda Shakya(Shuddhodana) was the ruler of Kapilavastu. Shuddhodana’s son was Siddhartha Shakya. Siddhartha Shakya founded a new religion, Buddhism and later came to be known as Gautama Buddha. Buddha’s son was Langala Shakya (also known as Rahula). Since Buddha had found a new religion and abdicated the throne, hence Langala became the next ruler in Suryavansha.Sumitra was the last ruler of Suryanvansha lineage.
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Origin of Shakya clan
Shakya Republic (part of Ayodhya Kingdom)
Kosala (capital city Ayodhya) kingom was ruled by Suryavansha kings since thousands of years. Notable kings were Raghu, Dasharatha and most famous ‘Lord Rama’.
Sometime before 6th or 5th century BC a separate republic state was formed by Suryavansha king ‘Shakya’. This was later called Sakya Ganrajya (meaning Shakya Republic).
Shakya Republic was located in northern Kosala at the foothills of Himalaya mountains. Their kingdom’s capital city was Kapilavastu.
King Shakya’s successor was king Suddhodhana Shakya and his successor was Siddhartha Shakya who was later called Gautam Buddha.
Siddhartha Shakya / Gautam Budddha
Siddhartha Shakya left the Shakya kingdom and founded a new religion named Buddhism. Siddhartha Shakya was later came to be known as Lord Gautam Buddha.
9th Avatar of Vishnu
Siddhartha Shakya (Gautam Buddha) is also considered 9th Avatar of Lord Vishnu.
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Branches of Shakya Dynasty
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☸️ The Shakya Republic (600–300 BC)
Famous Kings: Suddhodhana Shakya, Siddhartha Shakya (known as Lord Gautam Buddha), Rahula Shakya
Region: Parts of North India and Nepal, Capital was Kapilavastu
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☸️ The Moriya Republic ( 500 BC)
A branch of Shakya family established another republic state with Pipphalivana as capital. They adopted Peacock (Mayura) as their state’s emblem. Just like India has adopted Lion Capital of Ashoka Maurya as National Emblem ). Peacock (Mayura) was considered sacred in ancient mythology.
Note that they did not call themselves as Moriya/Maurya. The name Moriya/Maurya does not occur in any inscriptions or books wrriten during Maurya period. Hundreds of years later after the fall of Mauryan Empire when history was written they were named as Moriya/Maurya due to their state emblem (Peacock).
Famous Kings : Chandravardhan Moriya
Region: Parts of North India and Nepal, Capital was Pipphalivana. It was close to Shakya Republic.
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☸️ The Maurya Empire (322 and 185 BC)
Famous Kings: Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka. The largest empire in Indian history.
Region: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and some southern parts of China
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☸️ The Mori Rajputs ( 7th Century AD )
Famous Kings: Chitrangad Mori. Built Chittor Fort, the largest fort in India.
Region: Rajasthan. Madhya Pradesh
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☸️ The Kachwaha / Kushwaha / Kush-vanshi Rajputs ( 11th Century AD)
Famous Kings: Raja Man Singh I. He built the Amer Fort. Sawai Jai Singh II. He built the city of Jaipur and five astronomical observatives at Delhi, Jaipur, Benaras, Mathura and Ujjain. He also established Govind Dev Ji temple at Jaipur.
Region: Jaipur, Alwar, Darkoti, Maihar, Keonjhar, Talcher
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☸️ The Kingdom of Tagaung / Burma ( 1 BC — 1050 AD)
Famous Kings: Abhiraja Shakya
Region: Burma, present Myanmar
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☸️ The Kingdom of Anuradhapura / Sinhalese Kingdom (377 BC–1017 AD)
Famous Kings: Pandukabhaya , descendant of Pandu Shakya (Buddha’s cousin)
Region: Sri Lanka
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Moriya / Maurya / Mori Kshatriya
Moriya Kshatriya was a branch of Shakya clan who established a separate republic with Pipphalivana as capital. They adopted Peacock (Mayura) as their state’s emblem.
Note that they did not call themselves as Moriya/Maurya. The name Moriya/Maurya does not occur in any inscriptions or books wrriten during Maurya period. Hundreds of years later after the fall of Mauryan Empire when history was written they were named as Moriya/Maurya due to their state emblem (Peacock).
Chandragupta Maurya belonged to the same Moriya Kshatriya clan. His Grandson was Emperor Ashoka Maurya.
Maurya Empire was the largest empire in Indian history.
After the end of Maurya dynasty of Pataliputra, this Kshatriya clan moved from Morwan (Mori-ka-patan) to the south of Chittor in Rajasthan (Archaeological Survey of India Report, Vol 6). The founder of Chittor was Chitrangada Mori (Maurya) and this region was ruled by the Mauryas for a long time till it was taken over by Bappa Rawal, the son in law, of the last Mori ruler, Man Mori, in the 8th Century.
Chitrangada Maurya built the Chittor Fort which is the largest fort in India.
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Kachhwaha/Kushwaha/Kush-vanshi Rajputs
Kushwaha Rajputs ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states, such as Jaipur, Alwar, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maihar.
Conquest of Dhundhar
Kachhwaha established their kingdoms in the Dhundhar region of modern Rajasthan in the 11th century. One Kachhwaha Dulha Rai conquered most of the dhundhar area from Bargujars Rajputs.
Raja Kakil Deo
After Dulherai, his son Kakil Deo defeated the Meenas of Amer and made Amer the capital of Dhundhar after Khoh.
Raja Pajawan
Raja Pajawan helped Prithviraj Chauhan in his most of the campaigns and conquests. He was married to a cousin of Prithviraj Chauhan. He died before the battle of Tarain.
Raja Prithviraj Singh I
Kachhwaha King Prithviraj Singh I fought along with Rana Sanga at battle of Khanwa.
Raja Man Singh I
He was one of the most trusted noble of Akbar. He was the supreme commander of the Mughal forces. He built the Amer Fort. He built and saved so many Hindu temples from Islamic destruction.
Sawai Jai Singh II
He built the pink city of Jaipur and five astronomical observatives at Delhi, Jaipur, Benaras, Mathura and Ujjain. He also established Govind Dev Ji temple at Jaipur.
