Who was this person?
A daimyō from the Sengoku to early Edo period, eldest son of Sanada Masayuki. He sided with the Eastern Army at Sekigahara and later became lord of Matsushiro. Separated in fate from his brother Nobushige (Yukimura), he preserved the Sanada house.
| Name | Sanada Nobuyuki (真田信之) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1566 – 1658 |
| Period | Sengoku–Edo |
| Birthplace | Shinano Province |
| Main achievements |
|
He was born the eldest son of Sanada Masayuki of Shinano. His mother is said to have been Yamanote-dono. His younger brother was Yukimura (Nobushige). His childhood name was Genzaburō. The Sanada were local lords of Shinano who rose while serving the Takeda. Nobuyuki was raised as heir.
After the Takeda fell, Shinano became a battleground among Oda, Uesugi and Hōjō. The Sanada sought survival as independent local lords, and Nobuyuki with his father guarded the house amid shifting alliances. It was a hard age for a small power caught between great ones.
In the first of the Battles of Ueda, when Tokugawa Ieyasu's large army attacked Ueda Castle, he held out with his father Masayuki. With few men they defended skillfully and inflicted heavy losses on the Tokugawa. The Sanada name became widely known, and Nobuyuki gained experience as a commander.
Around Hideyoshi's Odawara campaign, Nobuyuki married Komatsuhime, daughter of Tokugawa vassal Honda Tadakatsu, and strengthened his place in Tokugawa service. It was a turning point as he began to take a path different from his father and younger brother. After the move to the Kantō he continued to follow Ieyasu.
At Sekigahara, while father Masayuki and brother Yukimura joined the Western Army, Nobuyuki sided with Tokugawa's Eastern Army. The Sanada house split in two; at Ueda the second of the Battles of Ueda delayed Hidetada's army. After the war Nobuyuki bore the duty of preserving the family name.
After the war his father and brother were exiled to Mount Kōya, but Nobuyuki received 95,000 koku at Ueda and became domain lord. As elder brother he succeeded the house and carried the Sanada name into the Edo period. Parting from his father and brother is said to have been painful.
In the Osaka campaigns, when brother Yukimura joined the Toyotomi, Nobuyuki stood on the Tokugawa side opposite him. Brothers facing each other as enemies was a bitter plight. Yukimura died in the Summer Siege of Osaka, and Nobuyuki survived to keep guarding the house.
He was transferred with 130,000 koku to Matsushiro in Shinano, now part of Nagano City, becoming first lord of the Matsushiro Domain. It was a major relocation from Ueda. Matsushiro remained Sanada land until the end of the shogunate, and Nobuyuki laid its foundations.
Past the age of ninety he handed the house to his son Nobumasa and retired. He is said to have kept watching over domain affairs despite his great age. He was a rare warrior who lived from the Sengoku wars into the peace of Edo.
He died at Matsushiro at the age of ninety-two. After his father and brother died early, he long protected the house and preserved the Sanada name as daimyo. He is remembered for the fame of the Battles of Ueda and for a life that kept the family going beyond the brothers' parting.
A. A daimyō from the Sengoku to early Edo period, eldest son of Sanada Masayuki. He sided with the Eastern Army at Sekigahara and later became lord of Matsushiro. Separated in fate from his brother Nobushige (Yukimura), he preserved the Sanada house.
A. Period: Sengoku–Edo. Born in 1566, died in 1658.
A. Sanada Nobuyuki was born in Shinano Province.
A. At Sekigahara their father Masayuki and brother Nobushige joined the West, while Nobuyuki joined the East. After the war Nobuyuki escaped attainder and remained a daimyō.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Toyotomi HideyoshiTokugawa IeyasuSanada MasayukiHonda TadakatsuTokugawa Hidetada
Hosokawa TadaokiWilliam Adams (Miura Anjin)Ikeda TerumasaŌtani YoshitsuguDate MasamuneSanada Yukimura (Nobushige)Tachibana MuneshigeKuroda Nagamasa
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.