Question

Kapilavastu was the capital of _____.
A) Magadha
B) Shakya
C) Anga
D) Vajji

Answer 1

Hint: Gautama Buddha belonged to this clan. They were a clan of the iron age India and were situated in present day Nepal and Northern India.

Complete answer:
Kapilavastu was the capital city of the Shakya clan. King Suddhodana and Queen Maya, the parents of Siddharta Gautama, lived in this city. Their son, Gautama also lived with her until the age 29, when we left the palace to achieve enlightenment.

Kapilavastu was also the administrative center of the Shakyas. The seat of the administration of Shakyas was at the santhagara or ‘assembly hall’ at Kapilavastu. A new building for administration was constructed during the time of Gautama Buddha and it was also inaugurated by him. The highest authority lied at the sidharth which comprised 500 members who met at the santhagara to carry out important transactions.

The Shakyas were worshippers of the Sun, by tradition. They called themselves Adicca nama gottena, meaning ‘kinsmen of the sun’ or the ‘descendants of the sun’. There is no clear evidence whether the Shakyas adopted the Vedic Brahmanism to any significant extent by the time Gautama Buddha was born. Though the Vedic scripts already existed, the Shakyas did not adopt it. They did become followers of Buddha and monastics, once Buddha achieved enlightenment.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (B) Shakya

Note:
-Presently the exact location of Kapilavastu is not known. It is believed to be at present-day Tilaurakot in Nepal or Pirahwa in India.
-The archaeologists began the search for Kapilavastu in the 19th century and they ended up finding Lumbini (birthplace of Gautama Buddha).
-Using ancient texts of Faxian and Xuanzang, the archaeologists found Kapilavastu in 1898.