The Rishikas (also Rshika and Ṛṣika) are a possibly-mythical tribe of Central Asia and South Asia, who are mentioned in Hindu and Sanskrit literary texts, including the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Brhat-Samhita, the Markendeya Purana and Patanjali's Mahabhasya.
Contents
Some historians believe the Rishikas were a part of, or synonymous with, the Kambojas. However, there are other theories regarding their origins.
Classical literary texts state that the Rishikas were neighbors of the Parama Kambojas and the Lohas in Saka-dvipa ("Sakaland") (most likely Transoxiana).
According to traditional accounts, during the 2nd century BCE a subgroup of Rishikas migrated to southwesterm India and settled there, crossing Afghanistan, Balochistan, Sindhu and Sovira. According to the Mahabharata, there two sub-tribal were divisions within the Rishikas: Uttara ("northern") and Parama ("supreme") .
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 trans-Pamirs to the Rishikas of the Mahabharata located in the Shakdvipa. According to B. N. Puri, the Kambojas were a branch of the Tukharas. Based on Rishika-Kamboja connections, some scholars believe that the Kambojas were a branch of the Yuezhi. Moti Chander also sees a close ethnic connection between the Kambojas and the Yuezhi.
The Sabhaparava of the Mahabharata describes the Lohas, Kambojas and Rishikas as neighboring tribes west of the Himalayas. 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 class of people is implied, according to some authorities, by the name "Rishika" in the Matsya and Vayu Puranas. The Kambojas, in the Dronaparava section of the Mahabharata, are also described as a scholarly people:
Other theories
Some scholars have proposed that the Rishikas are the Yuezhi of ancient Chinese sources, or the Asii cited by the ancient Greeks. J. C. Vidyalankar believes that the Kushans (or Kanishkas) are the Rishikas. Based on the syntactical construction of Mahabharata verses 5.5.15 and 2.27.25,
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' (350-290 BC) Indica, Pliny the Elder (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 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 and Katyayana). The Aspasios and Assakenois were notable Kamboja groups engaged in horse culture.