The Itihasa-Purana, the Epic-Puranic narratives of the Sanskrit Epics (Mahabharata and the Ramayana) and the Puranas, contain royal genealogies of the lunar dynasty and solar dynasty which are regarded by Indian traditions as historic events, and used in the Epic-Puranic chronology to establish a traditional timeline of Indian history.
Cyclic time and yugas
The Puranas are oriented at a cyclical understanding of time. They contain stories about the creation and destruction of the world, and the yugas (ages). There are four yugas in one cycle: Satya Yuga (a time of truth and righteousness) Treta Yuga Dvapara Yuga Kali Yuga (a time of darkness and non-virtue)
According to the Manusmriti ( 2nd CE), one of the earliest known texts describing the yugas, the length of each yuga is 4800, 3600, 2400 and 1200 years of the gods, respectively, giving a total of 12,000 divine years to complete one cycle. For human years, they are multiplied by 360 giving 1,728,000, 1,296,000, 864,000 and 432,000 years, respectively, giving a total of 4,320,000 human years. These four yugas have a length ratio of 4:3:2:1.
The Bhagavata Purana [3.11.18-20] ( 500-1000 CE) gives a matching description of the yuga lengths in divine years.
The Kali Yuga is the present yuga. According to Puranic sources, Krishna's departure marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to 17/18 February 3102 BCE, twenty years after the Bharata War.
Vaivasvata Manu and the Solar and Lunar Dynasties The Solar dynasty and Lunar dynasty were two legendary principal dynasties of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruler class mentioned in the ancient Indian texts.
The present Kalpa is called Varaha. Out of the fourteen manvantaras in this Kalpa, six have passed. The traditions tell that in the Chakshusha manvantara, the sixth manvantara, which immediately preceded the present manvantara, king Prithu, the great-grandson of Chakshusha Manu, leveled the earth, built cities and villages and developed agriculture, trade, pasture and cattle-breeding. This cycle ended after only eight more generations with the Great Flood. The seventh and current Manvantara is called Vaivasvata after the Manu who presides over it. It is to Vaivasvata Manu that the royal genealogies of the Itihasa trace their origin.
According to Harivamsa, Ikshvaku is considered the primogenitor of the Suryavamsha, or the Solar dynasty, and was granted the kingdom of Aryavarta by his father Vaivasvata Manu. Manu settled down in the Aryavarta region after he survived the great flood. A. K. Mozumdar states that Manu is the one who built a city on the Sarayu (being the river that his mother Sanjana was the goddess of) and called it Ayodhya meaning the 'invincible city'. This city served as the capital of many kings from the solar dynasty and is also believed to be the birthplace of Rama.
The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) was said to be descended from moon-related deities (Soma or Chandra). According to the Shatapatha Brahmana, Pururavas was the son of Budha (himself often described as the son of Soma) and the gender-switching deity Ila (born as the daughter of Manu). Pururavas's great-grandson was Yayati, who had five sons named Yadu, Turvasu, Druhyu, Anu, and Puru. These seem to be the names of five Vedic tribes as described in the Vedas.
Satya Yuga
The Great Flood at the end of Chakshusa manvantara wipes away all life forms. Only Vaivasvata Manu is saved by Lord Vishnu, in the avatar of a fish, Matsya to repopulate the earth in the next cycle.Satapatha Brahmana, I.8.1Mahabharata, III.185Bhagavata Purana, VIII.24 All royal lines in the present cycle are traced in the itihasas from Manu Vaivasvata's sons and his only daughter Ila. Ikshvaku, the eldest son of Manu, establishes the Solar Line (from Vivasvan, the sun-god, the father of Vaivasvata Manu) at Ayodhya in Kosala. Iksvaku's younger son Nimi migrates a little further east and founds the house of Videha. Its capital Mithila is established by his son Mithi,Visnu Purana, IV.5 also called Janaka which later becomes the generic name for the kings of Videha.
The lunar dynasty is established at about the same time, at Pratishthana (identified with a suburb of modern-day Prayagraj) in Madhyadesha (the doab between Ganga and Yamuna rivers) by Pururavas, the son of Ila and Budha, the illegitimate child of Soma, the moon-god.Visnu Purana, IV.6 The tale of his love for the nymph Urvasi is a tale that has caught the Indian imagination for generations. It is the subject of a famous classical work by Kalidasa called Vikramorvasiyam. While Ayus, the elder son of Pururavas ascends the throne after him, his younger brother, Amavasu founds another dynasty that reigned over a kingdom, centred around Kanyakubja (modern Kannauj).Visnu Purana, IV.7
The lunar line again splits into two after the reign of Ayus, the eldest son of Pururavas. Nahusa, the eldest son of Ayus, succeeds him, but obtains the position of Indra in the heaven but is banished from there when he lusts after Sachi, the wife of Indra.Mahabharata, V.9-18 Ksatravrddha, another son of Ayus, establishes the dynasty of Kashi (Varanasi). His descendants were called Kaseyas.
Nahusa's son and successor Yayati was a renowned conqueror and was reckoned as a cakravartin. He had two sons named Yadu and Turvasu from Devayani, the daughter of Sukra, the preceptor of asuras. He also had three other sons, Druhyu, Anu and Puru from Sarmistha, the daughter of asura king Vrsaparva. Yayati installs Puru, the youngest. but the most dutiful son as his successor in the ancestral sovereignty in Pratisthana.Mahabharata, I.76-93 The elder sons obtain the outlying areas. From the sons of Yayati, descend the five famous royal lines of the Yadavas, the Turvasus, the Druhyus, the Anavas and the Pauravas, together called the Pancha Jana or the Five Tribes.Visnu Purana, IV.10
Immediately after Yadu, the Yadava dynasty is bifurcated – the main line continued by Krosti and the independent line of Haihayas led by Sahasrajit. The Yadava branch first develops a great principality under king Sasabindu, who becomes a cakravrtin. King Mandhata, the son of Yuvansva,Mahabharata, III.126 the king of Ayodhya marries his daughter Bindumati and rises to eminence. He follows in the footsteps of his father-in-law, extends his sway very widely and becomes a cakravrtin himself.Visnu Purana, IV.2 His son Purukutsa marries Narmada, the river goddess. Another son, also a famous king, called Mucukunda builds and fortifies a town on the bank of that river; it was Mahismati.
Soon thereafter, the Druhyu king Gandhara retires to the northwest (modern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) and establishes the kingdom of Gandhara there. His descendants scatter into the regions beyond India and establish many mleccha principalities.Visnu Purana, IV.18 Later, the Anavas divide into two branches under Usinara and Titiksu. The sons of Usinara establish separate tribes of the Yaudheyas, Ambasthas, Navarastras, Krimilas and Sivis in eastern Punjab. Sivi, the son of Usinara and the originator of the Sivis in Sivapura, is celebrated in the Indian mythology for his generosity. His sons set up the kingdoms of Vrsadarbhas, Madrakas, Kaikayas and Sauviras, and occupy the whole Punjab. The other branch of the Anavas under Titiksu moved east and founded the principalities of Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Suhma and Pundra.
The Haihaya king Krtavirya had the Bhargavas as his priests and enriched them. His kinsmen tried to recover the wealth but the Bhargavas resisted. The Haihayas then maltreated them due to which they fled to different countries.Mahabharata, I.178 Gadhi was then king of Kanyakubja and had a daughter Satyavati. The Bhargava rsi Rcika marries her and begets a son Jamadagni. About the same time Gadhi has a son Visvamitra.Mahabharata, III.115
In the solar line, Trayyaruna, a near contemporary of Gadhi and Krtavirya, ruled the kingdom of Ayodhya at this time. On the counsel of his priest Vasistha, he exiles his son Satyavrata, also called Trisanku. After Trayyaruna, Vasistha refuses to perform Trisanku's consecration.Vayu Purana, 88.78-116 A little later, Visvamitra of Kanyakubja tries to obtain the wishing cow Nandini of Vasistha. A fierce combat follows between the two, in which Visvamitra is defeated. Convinced of the superiority of brahmins, he resolves to become a brahmarsi and relinquishes his throne.Ramayana, I.51-56 When engaged in austerities, Visvamitra is befriended by Trisanku. He then champions Trisanku's cause, performs his royal consecration and on his death elevates him in his living body to heaven.Ramayana, I.57-60
The rivalry of Visvamitra and Vasistha continues even during the reign of Hariscandra, Trisanku's son. Hariscandra had a son Rohita, whom he had vowed to sacrifice to Varuna. He postponed the sacrifice for many years due to which he is afflicted with dropsy. Rohita, on Vasistha's advice, to propitiate Varuna, buys Ajigarta's son Sunahsepa (who is Visvamitra's grandnephew) as sacrificial victim in his stead. When about to be killed, Sunahsepa chants the varunamantra, taught to him by Visvamitra. Varuna appears, grants the boy his freedom and the king a cure from the disease. Visvamitra then adopts the boy as his chief son with the name Devarata.Aitareya Brahmana, VII.15-18Ramayana, I.61-62 A number of Visvamitra's sons, who protest against the status given to Devarata, are cursed by their angry father to become outcastes. They become the ancestors of Dasyu tribes, such as the Andhras, Mutibas, Pulindas, etc.Mahabharata, XIII.3Aitareya Brahmana, VII.18 Visvamitra, subsequently, obtains the position of a brahmarsi.Ramayana, I.65
In the Haihaya line, Krtavirya was succeeded by his son Arjuna Kartavirya, who was a mighty king. After a long reign he has dissension with Jamadagni. As a result, Parasurama, the son of Jamadagni by Renuka, the daughter of a minor Iksvaku king, kills Kartavirya Arjuna, whereupon Kartavirya's son's kill Jamadagni. In revenge, Parasurama resolves to slaughter the entire class of warriors (kshatriyas), and so far succeeds that only five survive to continue the great dynasties.Mahabharata, III.115-117
After Kartavirya, the Haihayas divided into five collateral tribes – the Talajanghas, the Vitihotras, the Avantyas, Tudikeras and Jatas. They attack Ayodhya and drive king Bahu from the throne.Visnu Purana, IV.3 They also attack, defeat and drive the Kasi king Divodasa from Varanasi. Pratardana, the son of Divodasa subdues the Vitihotras and recovers the throne.Mahabharata, XIII.30 A little later, Bahu begets a son Sagara, and Sagara defeats all those enemies, regains his kingdom and destroys the Haihaya power for good.
Sagara had sixty thousand sons who insult Kapila rsi and are, in turn, reduced to ashes by him. Therefore, Sagara is succeeded by his grandson Amsuman on the throne of Ayodhya.Ramayana, I.38-41 With the reign of Sagara, the Satya Yuga comes to an end.
Treta Yuga
Bhagiratha, the great-grandson of Sagara brings down the divine river Ganges to earth to expiate the sins of the sons of Sagara.Ramayana, I.42-44 Rtuparna is the next prominent king in the dynasty made famous by his association with Nala, the king of Nisadas. Nala married Damayanti, the daughter of Bhima, the Yadava king of Vidarbha. The delightful story of their marriage and the unhappy sequel of his subsequent temporary loss of his kingdom and destitution through gambling, is in the Mahabharata told to Yudhishthira suffering in similar circumstances.Mahabharata, III.50-78