Perhaps the generic name given to the king of the Kurūs (cf. Brahmadatta).
Once in the Jātakas 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, king of the Kurūs.
Koravya may also have been used as an adjective, for we find it explained as Kururatthavāsika (E.g., J.vi.273). The Koravya king probably belonged to the Yudhitthilagotta (See J.iv.361). The Anguttara Nikāya (iii.369f) mentions a king Koravya who owned a large banyan tree named Suppatittha.
According to the Ratthapāla Sutta (M.ii.65; see also Thag.776.ff; ThagA.ii.34; for details see Ratthapāla), in the Buddha's day, too, the ruler of Kuru was called Koravyarājā, and he owned a park which seems to have been called Migācīra. This king was evidently interested in religious discussion. Thullakotthika was his capital.
The Avadānasataka (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 Thullakotthika.