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.
Only Vaivasvata Manu is saved by Lord Vishnu, in the avatar of a fish, Matsya to repopulate the earth in the next cycle.
[12][13][14] All royal lines in the present cycle are traced in the itihasas from Manu Vaivasvata's sons and his only daughter Ila.
Its capital Mithila is established by his son Mithi,[15] 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 Pratisthana (identified with a suburb of modern-day Allahabad) 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.
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).
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.
Another son, also a famous king, called Mucukunda builds and fortifies a town on the bank of that river; it was Mahismati.
The sons of Usinara establish separate tribes of the Yaudheyas, Ambasthas, Navarastras, Krimilas and Sivis in eastern Punjab.
The other branch of the Anavas under Titiksu moved east and founded the principalities of Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Suhma and Pundra.
Rohita, on Vasistha's advice, to propitiate Varuna, buys Ajigarta's son Sunahsepa (who is Visvamitra's grandnephew) as sacrificial victim in his stead.
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.
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.
[39] After a long eclipse (corresponding to the ascendency of the solar dynasty under Mandhata), the Paurava line is revived by Dusyanta, a near contemporary of Bhagiratha.
[40] Bharata is crowned as a cakravartin and later gives his name to the dynasty, to the great fratricidal war between the Kauravas and Pandavas, and to India itself (i.e. Bharatavarsa).
The intrigues of his stepmother Kaikeyi result in the exile of Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Laksmana to the forest.
A confederacy of the kings of the Pauravas, the Yadavas, the Sivis, the Druhyus, the Matsyas, the Turvasus and others, is formed against Sudas, who defeats them in a great battle near the river Parusni.
Pargiter identifies this Pancala king as Sudas but the exact relationship between the dynasties, chronological and political, is not recorded.
His son Jarasandha extends his power up to Mathura (ruled by Andhaka king, Kamsa, who acknowledged him as overlord) in the north and Vidarbha in the south.
Krishna along with the Andhakas and Vrsnis migrate to the West coast and build a new capital Dvaravati (Dvaraka) in Saurastra.
His son, Santanu supersedes his elder brother Devapi to the throne, whereupon no rain falls for twelve years.
The question of succession to the throne results in a feud between the two families culminating in the appalling slaughter in the Bharata War.
In the battle, which lasts for eighteen days, the ruses of Krishna enable the hard pressed Pandavas to win.
Pariksita, on a hunting expedition, disrespects rsi Samika and is in turn, cursed by his son Srngin to die from snake Taksaka’s poison within seven days.
[52] Astika, (a half snake from his mother's side) who was begotten to save them,[53] enters the rite and wins a boon of his choice by singing the praises of Janamejaya.
[55] Nicaksu, sixth in line from Pariksita, transfers his capital from Hastinapura to Kausambi in Vasta as the former city is ravaged by a flood of the Ganges.
[56] The line continues for many generations till Udayana, the famous king of Vatsa (and a contemporary of Buddha) who carries off Vasavadatta, the princess of Avanti.
In Magadha, the descendants of Brhadratha and Jarasandha retain the throne till they are replaced by the Sisunaga dynasty, which among others include the famous kings Bimbisara and Ajatashatru.
He overthrows all old kshatriya dynasties - the Iksvakus, the Pancalas, the Kaseyas, the Haihayas, the Kalingas, the Asmakas, the Kurus, the Maithilas, the Surasenas and the Vitihotras – and subdues the whole central India.
[58][note 2] Historian Romila Thapar discusses the problem of associating "major lineages of the early tradition" with archaeological evidence (e.g. with Painted Grey Ware or Chalcolithic Black and Red Ware), understanding the Puranic genealogies as "records of a general pattern of settlements and migrations", rather than "factual information on history and chronology".