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Scholar Udaya Chandra Vasistha mentioned in his book “Buddha, the 9 Incarnation”
that Kapilvastu was the capital of Shakya state. They belonged to the Kshatriya
caste, the warrior caste.

In this way Kapilvastu is derived from the name of sage Kapil.
Origin of Shakya Dynasty

The Buddhist Mahavasha (Part II, 1-24) traces the origin of Shakyas to the King
Ichhwaku (Ikshvaku).
The Pali Literature mentioned the word "Shakya" is derived from the work Sakka
which slowly changed and was called as Sakya or Sakiya and finally called Shakya
which means powerful, successful and capable. Some other sources state that the
dynasty got its name from their place of settlement. Shakya means saal tree. The
Shakya Dynasty established the state called Kapilvastu.
According to the Tripitak, the holy book Buddhism, king Ichhwaku sent his two
ministers but the ministers didn’t return but dwelt in Kapilvastu. There was a fear
of losing family rituals and the history of the exiled royal family. Thus, they decided
the eldest princess Priya as the queen and other princes and princesses married with
other princes and princesses to continue their family. When the king knew this, he
uttered in astonishment “Hey Rajkumar haru, timiharu ta Sakke Chhau oh! Princes
you are finished”. Thereafter they started to be called Shakya derived from the
word “Sakke”.

It is said that the Shakya clan belonged to the Gautam Gotra which traced their
lineage from Gautam Maharishi, one of the Saptarishi. This is the reason why Buddha
was known as Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha belonged to the Chhetri caste.

Suddhodhan and His Son Gautam Buddha

In the Shakya dynasty, there was a king named Singhahanu. His queen was
Kanchana. They had five sons and a daughter. Suddhodhan was the eldest son. After
the death of the king Singhahanu, Suddhodhan ascended to the throne. It is said
that the ruling system in the Shakya dynasty was not hereditary but the rulers were
chosen or elected according to their efficiency. So Suddhodhan was the elected leader
of the Shakya clan. He had two wives Mayadevi and Prajapati. They were the princess
of Devdaha.
Once Mayadevi was travelling from her parent’s house, Devdaha to her husband’s
house in Kapilvastu on the day of Buddha Purnima. Suddenly, she got labour pain.
It was a very beautiful place having pond surrounded by Saal forest. After sometime,
she gave birth to a baby Siddhartha Gautam. He was born in 563 BC in Lumbini,
Rupandehi district in the Terai Region of western Nepal.
Siddhartha Gautam got every luxury in his childhood. The royal astrologers forecasted
that if the prince stayed in the palace he would become the king but if he went outside
or left the palace then he would be a great sage. So Siddhartha was kept in a palace for
the whole childhood. When Siddhartha became young he got married with Yasodhara
and had a son named Rahul.
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