Tribes in Ancient India c46.11

c46.11

In giving the genealogy of the kings of Ayodhyā who belonged to the Ikṣvāku or ‘solar’ race, some of the Purāṇas³ mention the names of six kings, namely, Aśmaka, Mūlaka, Śataratha, Iḍaviḍa (with variations), Vṛddhaśarman and Viśvasaha, who came after King Saudāsa Kalmāṣapāda. The list differs from that given in the other Purāṇas, but Pargiter considers it more authentic (*Anc. Ind. Hist. Tradition*, pp. 94 and 147). King Mūlaka is referred to in the Purāṇas enumerated above as reigning contemporaneously with one King Rāma. Mūlaka was afraid of Rāma and lived protected by a guard of women (nārī-kavaca). A similar statement occurs in the *Mahābhārata*.⁴ In the historical period, Aśmaka and Mūlaka were no longer connected with Ayodhyā.⁵