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*''Japanese'': 按司 ''(anji, aji)''
''Anji'', also known as ''aji'', were a class of landed local lords in the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. They were the highest [[Ryukyuan court ranks|ranking in the Ryukyuan royal court]] below princes (''ôji''), and above the ''[[ueekata]]''.
Prior to the 16th century, ''anji'' ruled domains or estates in the Okinawan countryside. Often based at ''[[gusuku]]'' fortresses, they wielded considerable local power. In the early 16th century, however, King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] made efforts to consolidate power in the hands of the central royal government. He confiscated the lords' weapons and required them all to reside in [[Shuri]], the royal capital, rather than on their own estates out in the countryside. ''Anji'' mansions were established in Shuri, organized according to the region one nominally controlled, whether it was located in Northern, Central, or Southern [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. Through involvement in court culture and court politics, the ''anji'' quickly developed into a more cohesive class than they had been in previous centuries, and their presence in Shuri contributed to the further development and consolidation of Ryukyuan elite culture, and of urbanization, commercialization, and economic integration of the kingdom, as ''anji'' brought goods and commodities from their domains to the capital and vice versa.
The ''anji'' left deputies, called ''anji okite'', to administer their lands on their behalf, and some years later a system of ''jito dai'', agents sent by the central government to oversee the outlying territories, was established. Some ''anji'' of the northern regions were allowed to remain there, not moving to Shuri, as they were too powerful for the king to force their obedience in this matter; the king's third son was made Warden of the North, however, and granted authority to maintain peace and order in the region<ref>[[George Kerr|Kerr, George]]. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp105-8.</ref>.
''Anji'' could gain or inherit the title in one of three ways. One could inherit the title directly from one's father, if the father was an ''anji'' or ''ôji'' ("prince"; princes could not pass on that title, but rather the title of ''anji'', one step down in rank); or, one could be elevated from a lower rank and granted the title of ''anji'' (along with an associated estate, nominally at least) by the king, i.e. the court, as a reward for exemplary service.
==References==
*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-40075-storytopic-121.html Aji]." ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'' 沖縄コンパクト事典. Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003.
*[[Gregory Smits|Smits, Gregory]]. ''Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics''. University of Hawaii Press, 1999. p165.
<references/>
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]
''Anji'', also known as ''aji'', were a class of landed local lords in the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. They were the highest [[Ryukyuan court ranks|ranking in the Ryukyuan royal court]] below princes (''ôji''), and above the ''[[ueekata]]''.
Prior to the 16th century, ''anji'' ruled domains or estates in the Okinawan countryside. Often based at ''[[gusuku]]'' fortresses, they wielded considerable local power. In the early 16th century, however, King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] made efforts to consolidate power in the hands of the central royal government. He confiscated the lords' weapons and required them all to reside in [[Shuri]], the royal capital, rather than on their own estates out in the countryside. ''Anji'' mansions were established in Shuri, organized according to the region one nominally controlled, whether it was located in Northern, Central, or Southern [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. Through involvement in court culture and court politics, the ''anji'' quickly developed into a more cohesive class than they had been in previous centuries, and their presence in Shuri contributed to the further development and consolidation of Ryukyuan elite culture, and of urbanization, commercialization, and economic integration of the kingdom, as ''anji'' brought goods and commodities from their domains to the capital and vice versa.
The ''anji'' left deputies, called ''anji okite'', to administer their lands on their behalf, and some years later a system of ''jito dai'', agents sent by the central government to oversee the outlying territories, was established. Some ''anji'' of the northern regions were allowed to remain there, not moving to Shuri, as they were too powerful for the king to force their obedience in this matter; the king's third son was made Warden of the North, however, and granted authority to maintain peace and order in the region<ref>[[George Kerr|Kerr, George]]. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp105-8.</ref>.
''Anji'' could gain or inherit the title in one of three ways. One could inherit the title directly from one's father, if the father was an ''anji'' or ''ôji'' ("prince"; princes could not pass on that title, but rather the title of ''anji'', one step down in rank); or, one could be elevated from a lower rank and granted the title of ''anji'' (along with an associated estate, nominally at least) by the king, i.e. the court, as a reward for exemplary service.
==References==
*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-40075-storytopic-121.html Aji]." ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'' 沖縄コンパクト事典. Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003.
*[[Gregory Smits|Smits, Gregory]]. ''Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics''. University of Hawaii Press, 1999. p165.
<references/>
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]
