Kapilavastu (ancient city)

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Kapilavastu was an ancient city in the eastern Gangetic plains of the Indian subcontinent which was the capital of the clan gaṇasaṅgha or "republic" of the Shakyas in the late Iron Age, around the 6th and 5th centuries BC. King Śuddhodana and Queen Māyā are believed to have lived at Kapilavastu, as did their son Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) until he left the palace at the age of 29. Buddhist texts such as the Pāli Canon say that Kapilavastu was the childhood home of Gautama Buddha, on account of it being the capital of the Shakyas, over whom his father ruled. Kapilavastu is the place where Siddhartha Gautama spent the first 29 years of his life. Buddhists sources state that the city of Kapilavastu was built in honour of Kapila and the Buddha was Kapila in one of his previous lives. According to Buddhist sources the name Kapilvatthu means "tawny area", due to the abundance of reddish sand in the area. Most foreign accounts from the medieval period, particularly from China,...

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