Ailas

The Ailas were a dynasty of kings of ancient India. Pururavas, the son of Ila was the founder of this dynasty. The Mahabharata (Sabha Parva:14) mentioned about the Ailas as, "The numerous royal lines and other ordinary Kshatriyas all represent themselves to be the descendants of Aila and Ikshwaku. The descendants of Aila, as indeed, the kings of Ikshwaku’s race, are each divided into a hundred separate dynasties."

The Aila Lineage

The ancient Indian literature tends to consider the patriarch figure Manu as the originator of the human race. (Hence the names man (English), manav (Hindi) and manava (Sanskrit) to denote humanity.) At MBh 1:75 it is stated that all the races originated from a few women (about 50) and a few men. Such men and women who gave birth to human races were called patriarchs and matriarchs. Among the prominent patriarchs were Prachetas, Daksha, Kasyapa and Manu. The patriarch Manu was the son of Vivaswat. Vivaswat was the son of Aditi (who herself was one of the 13 matriarchs, all of them wives of the patriarch Kasyapa). Ikshwaku was the son of Manu who gave race to the royal dyanasty of Ikshwakus. Ila was another son or daughter of Manu (It is not clear if Ila was a male or female. There is a myth that tells that Ila was a male, turned to female and was wedded to Budha the son of Soma and thus became the originator of the Lunar Dynasty of kings.) Pururavas is mentioned here as the son of Ila. (Also at 2:76 and 13:6)

The same lineage is...
Read More