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'''Ikki''' is a league or alliance.  During the [[Muromachi Period]], warriors and/or peasants would form pacts and band together for their own protection, especially in the chaotic [[Sengoku Period]]. Some of these sects were religiously based, usually formed around a [[Jodo Shinshu|Jôdô]] sect, called an [[ikko-ikki|ikkô-ikki]]. These leagues--some sources refer to them as mobs--challenged the authority of the local [[daimyo|daimyô]], often resulting in armed conflict.

*''Japanese'': 一揆 ''(ikki)''

 

''Ikki'' were leagues or alliances formed during the [[Muromachi period]] by samurai and non-samurai alike, who formed pacts with one another to work together for common interests, and to defend the group's independence from warlords or others.

 

''Ikki'' were often united by a document listing the terms and agreements of their pact, and the names of those entering into the pact; often, the names were listed in a circular manner, to emphasize their equal (non-hierarchical) status within the league. Sometimes, the pact would be sealed by burning the signed agreement and mixing the ashes with water from which each member would then drink, in a ritual called ''ichimi shinsui'' ("one sip of the gods' water").<ref>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 114-115.</ref>

 

Some of these sects were religiously based, usually formed around a [[Jodo Shinshu|Jôdô]] sect, and came to be called ''[[ikko-ikki|Ikkô-ikki]]''. Some of these leagues, especially the ''Ikkô-ikki'' - some sources refer to them as mobs - challenged the authority of the local ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'', often resulting in armed conflict. One of the most famous examples of this took place in [[Kaga province]], where the local ''ikki'' managed to overthrow and kick out the [[Togashi clan]] ''[[shugo]]'' of the province, making it for a considerable length of time the only province under commoner/peasant control. The ''Ikkô-ikki'' of the [[Ishiyama Honganji]], based in [[Osaka]], are also famous for successfully withstanding [[siege of Ishiyama Honganji|siege]] by [[Oda Nobunaga]] for as long as ten years before succumbing.

==References==

==References==

*[[John Whitney Hall|Hall, John Whitney]] and [[Toyota Takeshi|Toyota, Takeshi]].  ''Japan in the Muromachi Age''.  Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1977.

*[[John Whitney Hall|Hall, John Whitney]] and [[Toyota Takeshi|Toyota, Takeshi]].  ''Japan in the Muromachi Age''.  Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1977.

[[Category:Terminology]]

[[Category:Groups]]

[[Category:Muromachi Period]]