Minamoto

Kamon Minamoto "Sasarindo" - a motif connecting the leaves of gentian and bamboo

Minamoto ( я ) - a group of clans of ancient and medieval Japan from 1192 to 1333 ^[1] , descended from children of emperors who were denied the status of princes and transferred to the category of subjects by providing the name Minamoto ( 源 , "source") and the title “ason” ( Japanese 朝臣 , “servant of the dynasty”). These genera are also known as Genji ( 源氏 , "Minamoto clan / clan") or Genke ( 源 家 , "Minamoto clan / house"). Although at first Minamoto had the prestigious status of a very influential aristocratic family, over time they quickly turned into samurai due to the constant fulfillment of the military tasks of the metropolitan government.

The surname of Minamoto was first begun to be provided to his descendants by the Emperor Saga (reign of 809 - 823 ). The surname was received by his seventh son, Minamoto-no Makoto. He was considered an extra contender for the throne, and therefore "neutralized", transferring to the rank of subjects. Subsequently, the “unwanted” children of the emperors Save , Murakami , Uda and Daigo were also deprived of privileges and transferred to the rank of subjects - Minamoto.

A similar practice of the imperial government, which thus eliminated unnecessary princes and reduced budget spending on the imperial family, led to the emergence of 21 Minamoto clans. To avoid confusion, these clans were named after the monarchs, under whose rule the founders of the clan received a new surname and title. For example, the Minamoto clan descended from the children of Emperor Saga was called the “Genji Saga,” and the descendants of the Save’s monarch, “Saiva Genji.” The latter was the most numerous. He gave rise to many new samurai clans - Ashikaga , Takeda , Nitt and others.

Seyroji Buddhist Temple, Kyoto - the former estate of Minamoto no Toru, a prominent representative of the genus Saga Genji

The Minamoto clan of the Save line was in a constant struggle for power with representatives of the Tyra clan of the Kammu line. After the uprisings, known as Smuta Hogen ( 1156 ) and Smoota Heiji ( 1160 ), the Taira samurai were able to exterminate most of the Minamoto clan and establish a dictatorship in Kyoto . However, it was destroyed by Minamoto-no Yoritomo ( 1147 - 1199 ), who managed to survive the Taira repression and rebel against them in the 1180s. With the support of the emperor, he managed to destroy the main representatives of the hostile family and establish the first samurai government in the city of Kamakura - the shogunate . The first seppuku ( hara-kiri ) - the ritual suicide of the samurai - was committed by the daimyo of the Minamoto clan in the war between Minamoto and Taira, in 1156 (the Troubles of Hogen ). Minamoto no Tametomo , defeated in this short but brutal war, cut his stomach to avoid the shame of captivity.

Since Minamoto were the founders of the shogunate, they inherited the right to be shoguns. So, after the fall of the Kamakur shogunate in 1333 , the new Muromachi shogunate was founded by the Asikaga clan , the descendants of Minamoto, and the last Edo shogunate was also founded by the Minamoto branch - the Tokugawa family.

In the late Middle Ages, it was popular among samurai to attribute their ancestors to the genus Minamoto, along with the clans of Tyra , Fujiwara and Tachibana .