The great Ikshvaku king from whom Rama's dynasty, the Raghuvamsha, takes its name.
Accounts of this vary across texts and traditions. This entry primarily follows Puranic tradition, with other tellings (Valmiki Ramayana (Bala Kanda genealogy), Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha) noted where relevant.
Introduction
Raghu is a king of Ayodhya, the son of Dilipa and the father of Aja. Rama is called Raghava, "descendant of Raghu", and the dynasty is known as the Raghuvamsha.
Family
The conqueror
Kalidasa describes Raghu as a great conqueror who travelled to the four directions and performed the Vishvajit sacrifice, giving away all his wealth. When the sage Kautsa came for a gift for his teacher, Raghu, who had nothing left, prepared to go and take it from Kubera, and Kubera gave him the gold.
This entry is independently written for myVamsam using the sources listed above.
Where traditions differ, this entry identifies the relevant tradition rather than presenting one account as universally established fact.