King Janaka of Videha is the founding figure of Mithila’s identity — a rajarshi, a sage-king who ruled justly while pursuing the highest knowledge. Foster-father of Sita, found by him in a furrow as he ploughed, he gave her the name Janaki; her marriage to Rama binds Mithila forever to the Ramayana.
His court was the great intellectual assembly of the Vedic age, drawing Yajnavalkya, Gargi and Ashtavakra to debate the nature of the Self. That a king should prize wisdom above power is the ideal Mithila has cherished ever since.