Kusha or
Kush (,
Telugu:కుశుడు,
Tamil: குசன்,
Malay: Gusi,
Thai: Mongkut,
Khmer: Ramalaks) and his twin brother
Lava, were the children of Lord
Rama and his wife
Sita, whose story is recounted in the Hindu epic
Ramayana. He was the younger of the two and is said to have wheatish complexion like their mother, while Lava had black complexion like their father. Once Sita goes to fetch water from the lake carrying the infant Lava in her arms, the sage
Valmiki comes to ashram from outside and asks where is Sita to that the ashram people say she has gone to fetch water with other ladies but he does not see the child in the cradle of Lava, he thinks demons should have taken the baby so he immediately gets some dry grass (darbha or kusha in Sanskrit) and clones a baby by the time Sita comes to the ashram, this is how Kusha is born or he gets the name Kusha.
Ramayana book written by Valmiki says
Sita gave birth to both Lava and Kusha at the same time. He was the ruler of the kingdom centered at
Kasur in ancient times. His brother
Lava is purported to be the founder of
Lahore. The line of kings which ruled
Kashi and the
Mauryan dynasty, an empire that ruled the Indian sub-continent from 320 BC to185 BC claimed descent from Kusha. Kusha belongs to
Ikshvaku clan or Suryavansh Dynasty of
Kshatriyas in
Vedic civilization in ancient
India.