The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s6.t5: Ṛishika, Asika

v1.c6.s6.t5.1

The Nāsik eulogy of Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi mentions before Asaka or Aśmaka a territory named Asika which Lüders hesitatingly restores as Ṛishika. According to an alternative reading of a passage of the Hāthīgumphā inscription of Khāravela, Asikanagara, apparently the capital of the Asika country, seems to be placed on the Kaṇhabemnā, i.e. the Kṛiṣṇaveṇā or Kṛiṣṇā river. Both the *Jambukhaṇḍa* of the *Mahābhārata* and the *Bhuvanakosha* of the *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa* mention among southern *janapadas* a people called the Ṛishikas. The *Mahābhārata* mentions them together with the Vidabhas or Vidarbhas, while the *Purāṇa* associates them with peoples in the Far South like the Ṛishabhas, Siṃhalas, and those who dwelt in Kāñchī, as well as Tilaṅga (Andhra country) and Kuñjaradarī (‘Elephants’ cave’, Ānegundi). It is not improbable that the name Ṛishika or Asika was applied to the territory lying between Vidarbha in the north, Tilaṅga (Telugu or Andhra country) in the east, and Ānegundi in the south. The association with the river Kṛiṣṇā, to which the Hāthīgumphā record apparently bears testimony, should be remembered in this connexion. Asika could have occupied only the middle valley of the Kṛṣṇā, the lower valley being peopled by the Tilaṅgas or Telugus and the upper reaches by the Karṇāṭas, who find separate mention in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa. In chapter 57 of that text the Naishikas are mentioned between the Bhogavardhanas and Aśmakas on the one hand and the Kuntalas and the Andhras on the other. The situation points to the territory we have assigned to Ṛishika or Asika. It is not improbable that Naishika is a corrupt form of the same name.