Rishika was an ancient kingdom inhabited by the

Rishikas The Rishikas (also ''Rshika'' and ''Ṛṣika'') was an ancient Kingdom of Central Asia and South Asia, who are mentioned in Hindu and Sanskrit literary texts, including the ''Mahabharata'', the ''Ramayana'', the '' Brhat-Samhita'', the '' Markend ...

who were originally a tribe north to

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

who had limited interaction with early Indian kingdoms and mentioned in the epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

. They belonged to the

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

province of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, east of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. The Pandava hero,

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

visited this place during his northern military campaign for collecting tribute for

Yudhishthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Indian epic ''Ma ...

Rajasuya Rajasuya () is a śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king. According to the Puranas, it refers to a great sacrifice performed by a Chakravarti – universal monarch, in which the tributary princes ...

sacrifice (''Lohan.paramaKambojanRishikan uttaranapi'').See MBH 2.27.25.

References in Mahabharata

Rishika kingdom near Vidarbha

Rishikas were mentioned as kingdom of Bharata Varsha (Ancient India), located in Southern Division at (6:9). Here they are mentioned along with the

Vidarbha Kingdom The Vidarbha kingdom in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata is among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadu kings (Bhoja Yadavas). It was situated in the region still known as Vidarbha in what is now Maharashtra in central India. Damayanti, the wife of N ...

(in central India). It is likely that

Bhargava Rama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Virarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. Hindu tradition holds him to be the destroyer of the evil on Earth. According t ...

belonged to this tribe of Rishikas. An ancestor of

was named Richika (3:99).

Rishika kingdom near Kamboja

The kings of the Kamboja and the Richika tribes were mentioned at (5:4). Thus this Rishikas were certainly a northern tribe.

Arjuna's expedition to Rishika

''Arjuna encountered the northern Rishikas close to the Kamboja territory.''

, the son of

Pandu Pandu () was the king of Kuru kingdom, with capital at Hastinapur in the epic '' Mahabharata''. He was the foster-father of the five Pandavas, who are the central characters of the epic. Pandu was born pale, to Vichitravirya's second wife ...

, taking with him a select force, defeated the

Daradas Daradas were an ancient people who lived north and north-west to the Kashmir Valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region (part of ancient Baloristan) along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are of ...

along with the

Kambojas The Kambojas were a southeastern Iranian peoples, Iranian people who inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian subcontinent, Indian lands. They only appear in Indo-Aryan langua ...

. Then he vanquished the robber tribes that dwelt in the north-eastern frontier and those also that dwelt in the woods. He also subjugated the allied tribes of the Lohas, the eastern Kambojas, and northern Rishikas. And the battle with the Rishikas was fierce in the extreme. And defeating, the Rishikas in the field of battle, Arjuna took from them as tribute eight horses that were of the colour of the parrot's breast, as also other horses of the hues of the peacock, born in northern and other climes and endued with high speed. At last having conquered all the Himalayas and the Nishkuta mountains, that bull among men, arriving at the White mountains, encamped on its breast (2:26).

Karna's expedition to Rishika

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. He is the son of Surya (the Sun deity) and princess Kunti (later ...

also is mentioned as defeating Rishikas (8:8). He is stated have subjugated many invincible and mighty foes, viz * the

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

s, the

Madra Madra (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-western India whose existence is attested since the Iron Age (c.1100–500 BCE). The members of the Madra tribe were called the Madrakas. Location The Madras were divided into -Madr ...

kas, the Matsyas, the Trigartas, the Tanganas, the

Khasas Khasas (Sanskrit: खश, ) were an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe and a late Janapada kingdom from Himalayan regions of northern Indian subcontinent mentioned in the various historical Indian inscriptions and ancient Indian Hindu and Tibetan litera ...

, the Pancalas, the Videhas, the Kulindas, the Kasi-kosalas, the Suhmas, the Angas, the Nishadhas, the Pundras, the Kichakas, the Vatsas, the Kalingas, the Taralas, the Asmakas, and the Rishikas (8.8) and also the

, Ambasthas, Kaikeyas, Gandharas and Vedehas (8.9). Subjugating all these brave races, by means of his keen and whetted arrows equipped with kanka feathers, that foremost of car-warriors, Radha's son, had caused all of them to pay tribute to us for the aggrandisement of

Duryodhana Duryodhana (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ̪ʊɾjoːd̪ʱən̪ᵊ ), also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He is the eldest of the Kaurava, Kauravas, the hundred sons of King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gan ...

. ''Since the kingdom

Asmaka Aśmaka or Assaka was a Mahajanapada in ancient South Asia which existed between 700 BCE and 425 or 345 BCE according to the Buddhist texts and ''Puranas''. It included areas in present-day Telangana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in south-c ...

also falls in central India, this Rishikas seems to be the central Indian Rishikas.''

Other references

*A royal sage named Rishika is mentioned at (1:67) *The Salwa prince Dyutimat of great splendour attained to the highest regions by giving his kingdom to Richika (13:137), (12:233). *Richika is mentioned as son of Div, and is considered as one of the

Devas Devas may refer to: * Devas Club, a club in south London * Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter * Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist * Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club * Devas (band), ...

(1:1)

References

{{reflist *

Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa Vyasa (; , ) or Veda Vyasa (, ), also known as Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa (, ''Vedavyāsa''), is a ''rishi'' (sage) with a prominent role in most Hindu traditions. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the epic Mahābhārata, wh ...

, translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli Kingdoms in the Mahabharata