Shakya

The Shakya (or Sakya) were a clan of Hindu kshatriyas. The Shakyas lived near the foothills of the Himalayas.

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Perhaps the most famous Shakya was Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha. Chandragupta Maurya also claimed to be a descendent of Shakyas.

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The Shakyas are mentioned in the accounts of the birth of the Buddha (Mahāvastu, c. end of 2nd century BCE) as the "solar race", probably in association with a sun worship:

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:"There lived once upon a time a king of the Shakyas, a scion of the solar race, whose name was Suddhodana. He was pure in conduct, and beloved of the Shakyas like the autumn moon. He had a wife, splendid, beautiful, and steadfast, who was called the Great Maya, from her resemblance to Maya the Goddess."

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The Shakyas formed more or less independant tribes or kingdoms in the foothills of the Himalaya. They may have been connected to the Indo-Scythians, or Sakas.

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Clan: A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members nonetheless recognize a founding member or apical ancestor. As kinship based bonds can be merely symbolical in nature s...

Hindu: :This article is about the followers of Hinduism; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation)....

Kshatriya: According to the code of Manu, a Kshatriya is a member of the military or reigning order, one of four varna within the Vedic system of four groups or classes. Generally, the kshatriyas are thought to be ranked second in hierarchy, the first being the Brahmin or priestly varna, the third the Vaishya...