The History of the Samurai - The Heian Period (794 - 1185).

The Heian period (794 – 1185) of Japanese history saw the rise of a new ruling warrior elite, the Samurai.  From humble beginning as subordinates to the Emperor, the strongest samurai clans rose in power and influence by waging war on their enemies and gaining territories and wealth.

In 781, Japan’s Emperor Kammu established Kyoto as his capital to insulate his power base from the ongoing conflicts his people faced on the boarders of his territory.  For centuries, they had been fighting against the early inhabitants of Japan, the Ainu, a Caucasian race that can still be found today living in Northern Japan.  Local defence forces were put in place on the northern borders to fight against the Ainu, made up of local warriors whose families had been waging war with them for generations.

An Ainu villager and her child (source)

The Heian period was ushered in when Otomo Otomaro finally subdued the Ainu in 794. As a reward, the warrior families of the area were allowed settle new tax exempt territories and a process began whereby the chiefs and landowners of these districts gradually became more powerful.

Although the emperor did have a standing army, they had no experience in war as Kyoto was insulated away from trouble.  This left the warlords in the boarder districts to control the only decent fighting men Japan had to offer, putting them in a powerful position.

These warriors became known as the Samurai, which means ‘retainer’ or ‘to serve’ and they were absolutely loyal to their local ‘daimyo’ or warlord, willing not only to die for him but to serve him in the after life as well.  By the ninth century, with the Ainu subdued, the boarder clans started to fight against each other, with the stronger ones gradually growing and acquiring new lands and wealth from the spoils of war.

Warrior wielding a Bow (Source)

The bow was the original weapon of choice for the Samurai, who mainly fought on horseback; their swords were mainly used when they had to resort to close-in fighting and for collecting the heads of their defeated enemies as trophies.  Only after the Mongol invasion in 1274 did the legendary Samurai sword become their primary weapon.

From the fighting clans, three powerful rival families emerged, the Fujiwara, the Minamoto and the Taira, all lead by the descendents of Emperors.  The Fujiwara were closely tied to the imperial palace and they relied on its army for support.  However by the later half of the tenth century the Emperor had lost virtually all his power outside of the capital leaving individual samurai clans free to live by there own set of laws.  As the Emperors’ power diminished through the period, so did the influence of the Fujiwara clan.

The Minamoto clan were, during this time, less powerful and tended to be allies of the Fujiwara, generally following their policies.  The Taira clan began to opposed the government and their allies and expanded through a series of conquests of smaller neighbouring territory in the tenth century.

The Taira rose to dominance by the 12th century but were finally defeated by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1185, who subsequently became Shogun and in effect, ruler of Japan.  Traditionally the Shogun was a temporary position but Yoritomo made it permanent and hereditary.  In 1192, he moved the capital to Kamakura, ushering in what became known as the Kamakura Period (1192-1333).

Minamoto Yoritomo obtaining Buddhist favour by releasing wild cranes on the beach near his castle in Kamakura (Source)

After defeating the Ainu, the warrior clans of the boarders went from strength to strength throughout the period with the major warlords establishing firm bases of power that would lasted, in some cases, for centuries.  Although the tradition of having an emperor survived, most that came after the Heian period were no more than puppets and it was the highest ranking samurai warlord, the Shogun, who would rule Japan right up to 19th century.