Tribes in Ancient India c53.7

c53.7

The origin of the Śākyas is traced back to King Okkāka, i.e. Ikṣvāku. It is stated in the *Sumaṅgalavilāsinī*³ that King Okkāka had five queens. By the chief queen, he had four sons and five daughters. After the death of the chief queen, he married another lady who extorted from him the promise to place her son upon the throne. The king thereupon requested his other sons to leave the kingdom. The princes, accompanied by their sisters, accordingly left the kingdom, and going to a forest near the Himalayas, they began to search for a site to build a city. In the course of their search, they met the sage Kapila who said that they should build a town in the place where he lived. The princes duly built the town, and named it Kapilavatthu (Kapilavastu). In course of time, the four brothers married four of the sisters (excepting the eldest one), and the family came to be known as the Śākyas.