The Rishikas (also ''Rshika'' and ''Ṛṣika'') was an ancient Kingdom of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

, who are mentioned in Hindu and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

literary texts, including the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

'', the ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...

'', the '' Brhat-Samhita'', the '' Markendeya Purana'' and Patanjali's '' Mahabhashya''. Some historians believe the Rishikas were a part of, or synonymous with, the

Kambojas Kamboja ( sa, कम्बोज) was a kingdom of Iron Age India that spanned parts of South and Central Asia, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Eponymous with the kingdom name, the Kambojas were an Indo-Iranian peopl ...

. However, the ''Mahabharata'' not only suggests a distinction, but also adds an internal division – sub-divisions within the Rishikas known as the ''Uttara'' ("northern") and the ''Parama'' ("supreme") . Classical literary texts state that the Rishikas were neighbors of the Parama Kambojas and the Lohas in ''

Saka The Saka (Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

-dvipa'' ("Sakaland") (most likely

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

). According to traditional accounts, during the 2nd century BCE a subgroup of Rishikas migrated to southwestern India and settled there, crossing

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastl ...

Sindhu The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kash ...

and Sovira.

Historical identity

Kamboja–Rishika connection

Sanskrit scholar Ishwa Mishra believes that the Rishikas were synonymous with the Parama Kambojas. V. S. Aggarwala also relates the Parama Kambojas of the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the worl ...

to the Rishikas of the ''Mahabharata'', located in Shakdvipa. According to B. N. Puri, the Kambojas were a branch of the

Tukhara The Tocharians, or Tokharians ( US: or ; UK: ), were speakers of Tocharian languages, Indo-European languages known from around 7600 documents from around 400 to 1200 AD, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, Chi ...

s. Similarly, Moti Chandra sees a close ethnic connection between the Kambojas and the

Yuezhi The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...

. And other scholars believe that the Kambojas were a branch of the Yuezhi. The Sabhaparava of the ''Mahabharata'' describes the Lohas, Kambojas and Rishikas as neighboring tribes west of the

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 planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

. The Adiparva of the ''Mahabharata'' compares the Kambojas and the Rishikas, describing them both as "despised" people. The Kambojan king Chandravarma is described as an incarnation of Daitya Chandra and the sage, Rishika ("from the Rishika tribe"), is described as an incarnation of Danva Arka. In one version of the ''Mahabharata'' Chandravarma is a Rishikan, rather than a Kambojan, king. The Kambojas and Rishikas appear side-by-side in a verse. In the Udyogaparava of the ''Mahabharata'', the Kambojas and Rishikas are described as one people (''Kambojarishika''). A

scholarly The scholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and Practice theory, practices used by scholars and Academy#Academic personnel, academics to make their claims about the subject as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them ...

class of people is implied, according to some authorities, by the name "Rishika" in the Matsya and

Vayu Purana The ''Vayu Purana'' ( sa, वायुपुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. ''Vayu Purana'' is mentioned in the manuscripts of the Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to pr ...

s. The Kambojas, in the Dronaparava section of the ''Mahabharata'', are also described as a scholarly people:

Other Evidences

Some scholars have proposed that the Rishikas are the

of ancient Chinese sources, or the

Asii The Asii, Osii, Ossii, Asoi, Asioi, Asini or Aseni were an ancient Indo-European people of Central Asia, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Known only from Classical Greek and Roman sources, they were one of the peoples held to be responsible ...

cited by the ancient Greeks. J. C. Vidyalankar believes that the Rishikas are the

Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...

s in general (or perhaps only the dynasty founded by

Kanishka Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire ...

). The name "Asii" (or "Asioi" mentioned by Strabo, according to one view, alludes to their connections with horses (''asva'' or ''assa''). Based on the earlier information from

Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; grc, Μεγασθένης, c. 350 BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but ...

' (350-290 BC) '' Indica'',

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

(23–79 AD) mentions Osii (Orsi), Asoi, Aseni, Taxillae and Peucolaitae as Indian peoples living in the upper Indus valley south of the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Prov ...

. The Taxillae and Peucolaitae are Gandharans of the Indian traditions while the Asoi, Osii/Orsi and Aseni appear yet other variants of the Assaceni (Aspasioi) and Assacani (Assakenoi)—the Asvayana and Asvakayana of

Pāṇini , era = ;;6th–5th century BCE , region = Indian philosophy , main_interests = Grammar, linguistics , notable_works = ' ( Classical Sanskrit) , influenced= , notable_ideas= Descriptive linguistics (Devanag ...

and Katyayana). The Aspasios and Assakenois were notable Kamboja groups engaged in

horse culture A horse culture is a tribal group or community whose day-to-day life revolves around the herding and breeding of horses. Beginning with the domestication of the horse on the steppes of Eurasia, the horse transformed each society that adopted i ...

Ancient Indian literary references

''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana''

The Rishikas fought in the war described in the ''Mahabharata''. The allied Lohan, Parama-Kamboja, northern and Parama Rishika tribes fought with the

Pandava The Pandavas ( Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic '' Mahabharata''. They are acknowle ...

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Pand ...

during their Digvijay expedition against the tribes of

Uttarapatha Ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts use Uttarapatha as the name of the Northern part of Jambudvipa (equivalent of present-day North India), one of the "continents" in Hindu history. In modern times, the Sanskrit word ''uttarapatha'' is sometimes use ...

. The Kishikindha Kanda of the ''

'' also refers to northern Rishikas.

Matsya Purana

According to

Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' ( IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the ...

the Rishikas were descendants of the

Rishi ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" or ...

s, or inspired poets.

Rishikas in southwestern India

Verses in Karanaparava and Bhishmaparava of the ''Mahabharata'' refer to Rishikas in

Dakshinapatha __NOTOC__ Dakshinapatha is an important historical region which is an ancient equivalent of present day South India or Deccan plateau and which may mean; *the "Ancient South of the Indian subcontinent" below Uttarapatha. The term can encompass D ...

as a Janapada near

Mahajanapada The Mahājanapadas ( sa, great realm, from ''maha'', "great", and ''janapada'' "foothold of a people") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE during the second urbani ...

. The Kishikindha Kanda of

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributi ...

's ''Ramayana'' refers to this second branch of the Rishikas, placing them in Dakshinapatha near the Vidarbhas. The

Markandeya Purana The ''Markandeya Purana'' ( sa, मार्कण्डेय पुराण; IAST: ) is a Sanskrit text of Hinduism, and one of the eighteen major Puranas. The text's title Markandeya refers to a sage in Hindu History, who is the central ch ...

also attests to the Rishikas of the Dakshinapatha.

Varāhamihira Varāhamihira ( 505 – 587), also called Varāha or Mihira, was an ancient Indian astrologer, astronomer, and polymath who lived in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh, India). He was born at Kapitba in a Brahmin family, in the Avanti region, roughly co ...

identifies Rishikas in Dakshinapatha in the ''Brhat Samhita''. ''Brhat Samhita'' and Markendeya Purana identify Kamboja and Pahlava settlements in southwestern India. Evidence from Udyogaparava of the ''Mahabharata'' associates the Rishikas with the Kambojas,

Shakas The Saka (Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

and

Pahlava The Pahlavas are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts like the Manu Smriti, various Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Brihat Samhita. According to P. Carnegy, In the 4th century BCE, Vartika of Katyayana mentions the ''Sakah- ...

s near the Anupa region (Anupadesha):

''Shakanam Pahlavana.n cha Daradanam cha ye nripah'' ''Kamboja Rishika ye cha pashchim anupakash cha ye'' (5.5.15) "The kings of the Shakas, Pahlavas, Daradas and the Kamboja Rishikas live in the west in Anupadesa, or the seacoast regions."

The

Daradas Daradas were a 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 often spoken al ...

in the verse above appear to be a

copyist A copyist is a person that makes duplications of the same thing. The term is sometimes used for artists who make copies of other artists' paintings. However, the modern use of the term is almost entirely confined to music copyists, who are emplo ...

's mistake, since the Paradas, not the Daradas, are associated with the military confederation of the Sakas, Kambojas and Pahlavas (''Pānca-ganah'' or "five hordes" of Kshatriyas in the

Puranic Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

texts, for instance).Cultural History from Vayu Purana, 1973, p 27, fn 185, Reprint of 1946 Edition, published by Deccan College Post Graduate Research Institute, Poona; Foreign Elements in Ancient Indian Society, 2nd Century BC to 7th Century AD – 1979, p 125, Uma Prasad Thapliyal.

References

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