Maya (mother of the Buddha)
Maya, also known as Mahāmāyā and Māyādevī, was the queen of Shakya and the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. She was the wife of Śuddhodana, the king of the Shakya kingdom. She was sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha.
Statue of Māyā, from Nepal, 19th century. Musée Guimet, Paris
The birth of Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha, Gandhara, 2nd–3rd century CE
Queen Māyā's white elephant dream, and the conception of the Buddha. Gandhara, 2nd–3rd century CE
Dream of Mayadevi, Mardan
Shakya was an ancient clan of the northeastern region of South Asia, whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The Shakyas were organised into a gaṇasaṅgha, also known as the Shakya Republic. The Shakyas were on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain in the Greater Magadha cultural region.
Shakya among the Gaṇasaṅghas
Gautama Buddha, called Shakyamuni "Sage of the Shakyas," the most famous Shakya. Seated bronze from Tibet, 11th century.
Bharhut inscription: Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho "The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni", circa 100 BCE.