Ikshvaku Dynasty

The Ikshvaku clan said to began from the first Tirthankara, Rishabhdev, who is regarded as the first King on the earth of this Avsarpini cycle. According to Jainism, Rishabha was born to Nabhiraja and Marudevi at Ayodhya. Rushabdev had 101 sons of whom the eldest was Bharata and second son was Bahubali. Rishabha, after completing his tenure as a King, gave up all his possessions to his 101 sons and became a Sadhu.

Jain history provides two explanations how the word “Ikshvaku” came about. According to one version, after Rushabdev fasted for one year, he took his first aahar (food), which was IkshuRas(Sugarcane Juice). This Sugarcane Juice was given to Rushabdev by King Shreyansha. Thus from this event, Rishabhdev was given the name of Ikshvaku and his lineage was called as Ikshvaku Vansh (Family of Ikshvaku). According to another version, the first thing that Rishabhdev taught men was the use of Ikshurasa (cane-juice), which earned for him the title of ‘Ikshvaku’. Thus according to Jainism, Ikshvaku was another name for Rishabhdev.