According to literary traditions, Ikshvaku, the son of Vaivasvata Manu and the first king of solar line founded this city. Jain literary narrative makes Ayodhya the capital of Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara who predated even Ikshvaku, according to literary traditions. Ikshvaku was succeeded by his son Vikukshi. Another king of this line name Shravasta founded the city of Shravasti which in later time became the capital of Uttar Kosala. A few generations later came the great Mandhata who was a universal monarch. Purukutsa, the son of Mandhata, defeated the Gandharvas and married a Naga princess and his grandson Anaranya, was killed in a battle about 15 miles from Ayodhya. The 31st king Harishchandra, well known as the lover of truth, was a mighty ruler who performed the Rajasuya sacrifice. The 37th king Bahu, in whose time the Kosala power suffered a great reverse at the hands of his enemies, was forced to abdicate. His posthumous son, Sagar, vanquished the Haihayas and the Tala janghas. He performed the horse sacrifice. Jain tradition makes Ajitanatha, a contemporary of Sagar. Sagar's great grandson, Bhagiratha, is reputed to have brought the Ganga to earth by virtue of his penances. Bhagiratha great grandson, Ambarisha in whose reign Ayodhya again rose to prominence, was a great donor and a repute devotee of Vishnu. His grandson Rituparna, was a contemporary of the celebrated Vidarbha monarch. Nala to whom, he taught the secrets of the art of throwing the dice and from whom he acquired the science of training horses. Rituparna's grandson was Sudasa who is often identified with the vedic Sudasa of the Dasarajna war. It was in the time of his successor, Kalmashpada and the kings that followed that the kingdom of Ayodhya seemed to have Ayodhya Research Institute suffered reverses. The result was that Kalmashpada's grandson Mulaka had to be brought up secretly, thus becoming the only source through whom the royal family of Kosala was enabled to continue. There was, however, a bifurcation in the line for some six or seven generations, the two stream being united in a single monarchy under Khatvanga, also known as Dilipa. Some scholars think that it was under this great king and his immediate descendants that this region acquired the name of Kosala. His son was the great Raghu after whom the family came to be called Raghuvansha. He is credited with conquering the whole earth and performing the Visvajit sacrifice. His son Aja was married to the Vidarbha princess Indumati, the mother of Dasharatha who was powerful enough to lead his campaigns far and wide and to perform the horse sacrifice at Ayodhya. It was in Ramachandra, the eldest son of Dasharatha, that the glory of Kosala royal dynasty reached its culmination. Kosala emerges into great prominence in this period, its princes carrying Aryan civilization as far as Ceylon. The story of this epoch has been immortalized by Valmiki and immensely popularized by the great mass of subsequent literature of Rama.
