Siddhartha
Gautama was born in the 5th or 6th century BC in Lumbini, which
is known as Nepal in the modern day. Siddhartha is a Sanskrit name meaning "one
who has accomplished a goal" and Gautama is a family name.
His
father, King Suddhodana, was the leader of a large clan called the Shakya . It
is not clear from the earliest texts whether he was a hereditary king or more
of a tribal chief. It is also possible that he was elected to this status.
Suddhodana married two sisters, Maya and
Pajapati Gotami. They are said to be princesses of another clan, the Koliya
from what is northern India today. Maya was the mother of Siddhartha and he was
her only child, dying shortly after his birth. Pajapati, who later
became the first
Buddhist nun, raised Siddhartha as her own.
By
all accounts, Prince Siddhartha and his family were of the Kshatriya caste of
warriors and nobles. Among Siddhartha's more well-known relatives was his
cousin Ananda, the son of his father's brother. Ananda would later become the
Buddha's disciple and personal attendant.
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