Anji Domain Explained

Noautocat:no
Native Name:安志藩
Conventional Long Name:Anji Domain
Common Name:Anji Domain
Subdivision:Han
Status Text:under Tokugawa shogunate Japan
Government Type:Daimyō
Capital:Anji jin'ya
Today:part of Hyōgo Prefecture
Year Start:1716
Year End:1871
Era:Edo period

right|250px|thumb|Ogasawara Sadazane, final daimyō of Anji

was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southwestern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around the Anji jin'ya which was located in what is now the city of Himeji, Hyōgo and was controlled by a cadet branch fudai daimyō Ogasawara clan throughout all of its history. [1] [2] [3]

History

In 1716, the 5th daimyō of Nakatsu Domain in Buzen Province, Ogasawara Nakasato died at the age of five. As he had no heir, this would normally be cause for attainder; however, in recognition of the death in combat of one his ancestors at the Siege of Osaka, the Tokugawa shogunate decided to appoint his uncle, Ogasawara Nagaoki as daimyō, but to reduce his kokudaka to 10,000 koku and to relocate his seat to Anji. Ogasawara Nagaoki was weak health and retired at the age of 19 without heir, but he adopted the son of Ogasawara Tadamoto of Kokura Domain, Ogasawara Nagamitsu, as his successor. Afterwards, the domain was regarded as if it was a subordinate domain of Kokura. Due to these strong ties, the domain fought in the Chōshū expeditions against Chōshū Domain, bu with the start of the Boshin War defected to the Imperial side. In 1871, with the abolition of the han system, the domain became Anji Prefecture, which was merged with Shikama Prefecture, which in turn became part of Hyōgo Prefecture.

The clan was ennobled with the kazoku peerage title of shishaku (viscount) in 1884.

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

As with most domains in the han system, Anji Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[4] [5]

List of daimyō

Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank kokudaka
Ogasawara clan, 1716-1871 (Fudai)
11716 - 1730-none- -none- 10,000 koku
21730 - 1770Shinano-no-kami (信濃守)Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下)10,000 koku
31770 - 1782Shinano-no-kami (信濃守)Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下)10,000 koku
41782 - 1823Shinano-no-kami (信濃守)Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下)10,000 koku
51823 - 1832Shinano-no-kami (信濃守)Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下)10,000 koku
61832 - 1860Shinano-no-kami (信濃守)Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下)10,000 koku
71860 - 1871Shinano-no-kami (信濃守)Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下)10,000 koku

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: Nakayama . Yoshiaki . 江戸三百藩大全 全藩藩主変遷表付 . 2015 . Kosaido Publishing . 978-4331802946.
  2. Book: Nigi . Kenichi . 藩と城下町の事典―国別 . 2004 . Tokyodo Printing . 978-4490106510.
  3. Book: Papinot, E. 1910. Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan . Tuttle (reprint) 1972 .
  4. [Jeffrey Mass|Mass, Jeffrey P.]
  5. Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987). Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century, p. 18.