What was the name of the capital city of the Shakya republic?

Kapilavastu was the capital city of the Shakya republic. The Shakyas were an ancient clan organized as a gaṇasaṅgha, an aristocratic republican system in the Himalayan foothills and adjoining Terai region.

Kapilavastu is closely associated with the Buddha’s early life. Buddhist tradition identifies it as the home of Śuddhodana and Māyā and the place where Siddhartha Gautama lived before renouncing palace life. The traditional biography says he spent his first 29 years there before leaving in search of an end to aging, sickness, and death.

The Shakya state was not a large centralized kingdom ruled by an absolute monarch. Its leading families met in an assembly to deliberate on public matters, including alliances, war, and peace. Śuddhodana is often called a king in Buddhist biographies, but historically he is also understood as a leading figure within the Shakya oligarchic republic.

A major historical complication concerns the city’s exact location. Archaeologists and historians have proposed Tilaurakot in Nepal and Piprahwa in India as candidates for ancient Kapilavastu. That archaeological debate does not change the quiz answer: Kapilavastu was the Shakyas’ capital.