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, 18:27, 20 November 2009
*''Born: [[1179]]''
*''Died: [[1227]]/6/18''
*''Titles: ''[[shugo]]'' of Satsuma; "Lord of the Twelve Southern Islands"''
*''Japanese'': 島津忠久 ''(Shimazu Tadahisa)''
Shimazu Tadahisa was the founder of the [[Shimazu clan]], and of the clan's claims to both [[Satsuma province]] and the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. He was named ''[[shugo]]'' (military governor) of Satsuma by [[Shogun]] [[Minamoto Yoritomo]] in [[1187]], and was named "Lord of the Twelve Southern Islands", an oblique reference to the Ryukyus, in [[1206]]<ref>Turnbull, Stephen. ''The Samurai Capture a King: Okinawa 1609''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2009. p7.</ref>. The Shimazu would never actually exercise any direct administration or governance in, nor receive any taxes or tribute from, the Ryukyus until after [[1609]], but this centuries-old claim to the territory nevertheless was employed by the Shimazu in their justifications for the [[invasion of Ryukyu]] in that year.
Tadahisa was the son of [[Koremune Hironobu]]; his mother was the younger sister of [[Hiki Yoshikazu]]<ref name=burabura>"[http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/jinbutus.htm#simazutadahisa Shimazu Tadahisa]." Kamakura-burabura.com. Accessed 20 November 2009.</ref>. According to some accounts, he was adopted into the Koremune family<ref name=Kerr56>Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp56-58.</ref>.
His father was the head of the [[Imperial Guard]] (''Konoe''); Tadahisa took the name "Shimazu" from the name of his family's manor<ref name=burabura/>.
He was once believed to be an illegitimate son of Minamoto no Yoritomo, but this theory or myth is no longer widely held as fact by scholars<ref>"Shimazu". ''Sengoku Biographical Dictionary'' ([http://www.samurai-archives.com/dictionary/s2.html Samurai-Archives.com]) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005</ref>.
Tadahisa first took up residence in Satsuma in [[1196]], building a castle there and subsuming [[Osumi province|Ôsumi province]] and parts of [[Hyuga province|Hyûga province]] into his domain<ref name=Kerr56/>; the [[Edo period]] [[han]] of [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]] would prove to cover roughly the same territory.
His grave ''[[yagura]]'' can be found in [[Kamakura]], a few hundred yards from the grave of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and alongside those of [[Oe no Hiromoto|Ôe no Hiromoto]] and the founder of the [[Mori clan|Môri clan]], [[Mori Suemitsu|Môri Suemitsu]]<ref>[http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/meisyokamakuraooehiromotonohaka.htm 大江広元の墓、島津・毛利氏祖の墓]. ("Grave of Ôe no Hiromoto, Graves of the founders of the Môri and Shimazu clans"). Kamakura-burabura.com. Accessed 20 November 2009.</ref>.
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Kamakura Period]]
[[Category:Samurai]]