Shakyamuni Buddha, the most famous of the Shakyas. Seated stucco from the Chinese Tang Dynasty, Hebei province.

Shakya (Sanskrit:--kya, Devanagari: -- and P-li:S-kiya) was an ancient janapada (kingdom) of Iron Age India.^[1] The name is derived from the Sanskrit word -akya which means capable, able.^[2] In Buddhist texts, the --kyas are mentioned as a Kshatriya clan.^[3] The --kyas formed an independent kingdom at the foothills of the Him-layas. The --kya capital was Kapilavastu (P-li: Kapilavatthu).

The most famous --kya was Shakyamuni Buddha (Gautama Buddha), a member of the ruling Gautama (P-li: Gotama) clan of Lumbini, who is also known as --kyamuni (P-li: „akamu“i, "sage of the -aka nation").

The accounts of Buddhist texts

The --kyas are mentioned in the accounts of the birth of the Buddha (Mah-vastu, c. late 2nd century BCE) as a part of the -dichchas (solar race) and as descendants of the legendary king Ik„v“ku (P-li: Okk-ka):

There lived once upon a time a king of the --kya, a scion of the solar race, whose name was -uddhodana. He was pure in conduct, and beloved of the --kya like the autumn moon. He had a wife, splendid, beautiful, and steadfast, who was called the Great M„y“, from her resemblance to M„y“ the Goddess.

-Buddhacarita of A„vagho“a, I.1-2

Annexation by Kosala

Viabha, the son of Pasenadi and V„savakhattiy“, the daughter of a --kya named Mah„n“ma by a slave girl ascended the throne of Kosala after overthrowing his father. As an act of vengeance for cheating Kosala by sending his mother, the daughter of a slave woman for marriage to his father, he invaded the --kya territory, massacred them and annexed it.^[4][5]

Notes

External links

• Shakya coins