Abe Clan - Origins & History

Origins & History

According to the Nihon Shoki, the Abe were descended from a son of Emperor Kōgen. They originated in Iga province (today Mie prefecture); a number of families originally from this region, and bearing the Abe name, also claim descent from a legendary figure named Abi. Abi is said to have opposed Emperor Jimmu, the first legendary emperor of Japan, in his plans to conquer the Yamato plain. The various Abe families thus settled in the far north of Honshū, where they would become quite influential many centuries later in the Heian period. Though the clan name was originally written as 阿倍, it changed to 安倍 around the 8th century. Though this origin is not positive, it is likely.

This northern region, which would come to be known as the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, was conquered by the Japanese sometime in the 9th century, and the native Emishi people there subjugated or displaced. While many provinces at this time were overseen primarily by a governor, Mutsu saw to the rise of independent families called gōzoku who administered local affairs. The Abe were appointed as "Superintendent of the Aborigines" ostensibly to control the local people who by now were a mix of Japanese immigrants and former Emishi tribesmen on behalf of the central government, but in reality the government in Kyoto simply did not have control over the region, and was recognizing this fact by appointing the Abe. The Abe for their part used their position to take control over the so-called six districts roku-oku-gun located in what is now central Iwate prefecture surrounding the Kitakami river. In time, they began to have disputes with the governor of Mutsu, an office held by a branch of the Fujiwara family, which erupted into violence in 1051.

The main reason given for the attack on the Abe was that they stopped paying taxes to Kyoto, and stopped contributing to the local government. The governors of Mutsu and the commander of Dewa fort combined their forces to attack the Abe, but were defeated. Desperate to quell this affront to their authority Kyoto appointed Minamoto Yoriyoshi as Chinjufu-shogun. The position known as Chinjufu-shogun, or "Commander-in-chief of the Defense of the North", was traditionally given by the court as a temporary appointment to a courtier (typically of high rank) who was appointed as a national general to quell uprisings among the Emishi or Ebisu barbarians of northern Honshū. Increasingly, as military power became privatized this position was rotated among a few clans.

In what has come to be termed the "Earlier Nine Years' War" (前九年合戦, Zenkunen kassen), Abe Yoritoki was killed, and his son Abe no Sadato defeated, by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi and his son, Minamoto no Yoshiie. This war broke the power of the Abe family, but in the prolonged fighting that took place the Minamoto would not have prevailed had it not been for the aid of another powerful family, the Kiyowara. The Kiyohara clan of nearby Dewa province, aided the Minamoto in defeating the Abe.