Changes

[[Image:Soma_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The Soma kamon.]]

[[Image:Soma_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The Soma kamon.]]

The Sôma of [[Mutsu province]] were descended from [[Taira no Masakado]] (d.[[940]]). They supported [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in the early Nambochuko Period and were reasonably powerful in Mutsu at the start of the Sengoku Period. They clashed frequently with the [[Date clan]] - perhaps as many as 30 times over the course of 50 or so years, at times allying with other local families. Their last conflict occurred in [[1589]], and ended with the Sôma defeated by [[Date Masamune]]. Nonetheless, the advent of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] in [[1590]] allowed the family to maintain their independent status. In [[1600]] [[Soma Yoshitane|Sôma Yoshitane]] was slow in responding to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Tokugawa Ieyasu's]] summons to fight the Western forces, and as a result was deprived of his domain. On the occasion of the birth of [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] in [[1603]], however, the Sôma were forgiven and were reinstated as daimyô. They were granted the 60,000 ''[[koku]]'' domain of [[Soma Nakamura han|Sôma Nakamura han]] in [[Iwashiro province]], and remained there until the end of the Edo period. During that time, the Sôma clan was assigned to the Teikan-no-ma within [[Edo castle]].<ref>Yamamoto Hirofumi, ''Sankin kôtai'', Kodansha gendai shinsho (1998), 187.</ref>

The Sôma of [[Mutsu province]] were descended from [[Taira no Masakado]] (d.[[940]]). They supported [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in the early Nambochuko Period and were reasonably powerful in Mutsu at the start of the Sengoku Period. They clashed frequently with the [[Date clan]] - perhaps as many as 30 times over the course of 50 or so years, at times allying with other local families. Their last conflict occurred in [[1589]], and ended with the Sôma defeated by [[Date Masamune]]. Nonetheless, the advent of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] in [[1590]] allowed the family to maintain their independent status. In [[1600]] [[Soma Yoshitane|Sôma Yoshitane]] was slow in responding to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Tokugawa Ieyasu's]] summons to fight the Western forces, and as a result was deprived of his domain. On the occasion of the birth of [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] in [[1604]], however, the Sôma were forgiven and were reinstated as daimyô. They were granted the 60,000 ''[[koku]]'' domain of [[Soma Nakamura han|Sôma Nakamura han]] in [[Iwashiro province]], and remained there until the end of the Edo period. During that time, the Sôma clan was assigned to the Teikan-no-ma within [[Edo castle]].<ref>Yamamoto Hirofumi, ''Sankin kôtai'', Kodansha gendai shinsho (1998), 187.</ref>

The Sôma line died out at one point, but was able to continue as Katsutane (later [[Soma Tadatane|Tadatane]]), second son of [[Tsuchiya Tadanao]], was adopted into the family and married to a Sôma daughter.<ref>Arai Hakuseki, Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 280n21.</ref>

The Sôma line died out at one point, but was able to continue as Katsutane (later [[Soma Tadatane|Tadatane]]), second son of [[Tsuchiya Tadanao]], was adopted into the family and married to a Sôma daughter.<ref>Arai Hakuseki, Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 280n21.</ref>