Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c12.s2.4

c12.s2.4

The **Śākyas** were settled in the territory bordered on the north by the Himālayas, on the east by the river Rohiṇī,³ and on the west and south by the Rāptī.⁴ Their capital, Kapilavastu, stood close to the western bank of the Rohiṇī, some eight miles to the west of the famous Lumbinīvana,⁵ the place of the Buddha's nativity, the site of which is marked by the Rummindeī pillar of one of the greatest of his followers.⁶ The city is possibly mentioned in the *Tīrthayātrā section* of the *Mahābhārata*⁷ under the name of *Kapilāvaṭa*. It was connected by roads with the capitals of the Kosalas and the Vṛijikas, and through them with the other great cities of the age. The Sākyas had a town called Devadaha which they appear to have shared with their eastern neighbours, the Koliyas. They acknowledged the suzerainty of the king of Kosala and, like him, claimed to belong to the solar (*Āditya*) race and Ikshvāku family.