Perhaps the generic name given to the king of the Kurū (cf. Brahmadatta). Once in the Jātaka stories Koravya is given as the name of the king of Indapatta in the Kuru country, this king being the father of Sutasoma (J.v.457). Elsewhere (J.ii.368; iii.400, 402; v.59, 61, 65; vi.256, 268, 273) Koravya appears as a title of Dhanañjaya, the Kuru king. Koravya may also have been used as an adjective, for we find it explained as Kururaṭṭhavāsika (e.g., J.vi.273). The Koravya king probably belonged to the Yudhiṭṭhilagotta (See J.iv.361).

The Aṅguttaranikāya (A.iii.369 f) mentions a king Koravya who owned a large banyan tree named Suppatiṭṭha. According to the Raṭṭhapāla Sutta (M.ii.65; see also Thag.776.ff; ThagA.ii.34; for details see Raṭṭhapāla), in the Buddha’s day, too, the ruler of Kuru was called Koravyarājā, and he owned a park which seems to have been called Migācira (q.v.) This king was evidently interested in religious discussion. Thullakoṭṭhika was his capital.

The Avadānaśataka (i.67; ii.118; see also Camb. Hist. of India, i.121, which refers to a half-mythical Pañcāla king, Kraivya) speaks of a Kauravya of Thullakoṭṭhika.