It was once the tradition that the first king of India was Manu Svayambhu (the self born Manu). Manu was born directly of the God Brahma, and was a hermaphrodite. From the female half of his body he bore two sons and three daughters, from whom descended a series of Manus. One of them, called Prithu, became the first consecrated king of earth, and gave to the earth her name, Prithvi. He cleared the forests, cultivated the land, and introduced cattle breeding, commerce and other activities associated with a settled life.

But the tenth Manu was the most famous of them all. It was when he ruled over the earth that the great flood occurred, when everything was submerged and only Manu survived. The God Vishnu warned Manu of the flood, and Manu built a boat to carry his family and the seven saints of antiquity. Vishnu took the form of a large fish, to which the boat was fastened, swam through the flood, and lodged the boat on a mountain peak.

Here Manu, his family, and the seven sages remained. Until the water had subside and they could safely return. The human race sprang from Manu and his family, the survivors of the great flood. Manu had nine sons, the eldest of whom was hermaphrodite - hence known by a dual name Ila and Il. From this son arose the two main lines of royal descent, the Solar dynasty (Suryavamsha) from Ila and the Lunar dynasty (Chandravamsha) from Il.