Sanada Nobuyuki

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Sanada Nobuyuki bigraphy, stories - Daimyo

Sanada Nobuyuki : biography

1566 – November 12, 1658

Biography

At an early age, Nobuyuki’s father served under the daimyo Takeda Shingen and sent Nobuyuki as a hostage to prove the Sanada clan’s loyalty to the Takeda clan. After the Takeda clan was destroyed by joint Oda and Tokugawa army, Nobuyuki fled to Ueda Castle, the stronghold of the Sanada Clan and where his family were. In AD 1585, Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked Ueda Castle; Nobuyuki fought alongside his father and was victorious. Later, as Masayuki served under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Nobuyuki was sent to Tokugawa to be a retainer in order to preserve the clan if anything wrong happened to the Toyotomi clan.

[[Edo period screen depicting the Battle of Sekigahara.]]

During the Battle of Sekigahara, he fought on the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu, against whom Masayuki and his brother, Yukimura were fighting. After the Western Army was defeated by Ieyasu, Nobuyuki used this position to save his father’s and brother’s lives.

The Tokugawa generally have a high regard of Nobuyuki. He married a Tokugawa princess, Komatsuhime, making Nobuyuki the son-in-law of Honda Tadakatsu and Tokugawa. In 1622, he became the first lord of the Matsushiro clan and lived to 92 years of age.