Tajihi clan

An ancient powerful clan with imperial connections. Also written as Taji, Tanbi, Tanji, and Tanko. Descendant of King Tajihiko, grandson of Emperor Senka's son, Prince Kamueha. When this king was born, Tajihi (a tiger stick) flowers flew into his bath, so he was named Tajihiko, and it is said that his descendants also took the Tajihi surname, but it is likely that they took the place name of Tanbi County in Kawachi Province (Osaka Prefecture). Initially, the surname was Kimi (Kimi), and in 684 (the 13th year of Emperor Tenmu's reign) the surname was Mahito. Shima, who served under the reigns of Emperors Tenmu, Jitō and Monmu, was promoted to Minister of the Left and prospered greatly, and his sons Ikemori, Agatamori, Hironari and Hirotari were also appointed Dai and Chunagon, and they maintained their status as first-class aristocrats until the mid-Nara period, but thereafter they gradually lost their presence in the face of the prosperity of the Fujiwara clan, and by the beginning of the Heian period they had disappeared from the central political scene. The Tanto, one of the Seven Musashi clans, were their descendants who had become samurai.

[Hiromichi Mayuzumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古代の皇別有力氏族。多治、丹比、丹治、丹墀とも書く。宣化天皇(せんかてんのう)の皇子上殖葉(かむえは)王の孫多治比古(たじひこ)王の後裔(こうえい)。この王の誕生のとき、産湯に多治比（虎杖(いたどり)）の花が飛来したので多治比古王と名づけ、子孫も多治比を氏としたと伝えるが、おそらくは河内国(かわちのくに)（大阪府）丹比(たじひ)郡の地名を負ったのであろう。初め公(きみ)（君）姓、684年（天武天皇13）真人(まひと)姓。天武(てんむ)・持統(じとう)・文武(もんむ)朝に歴仕した嶋(しま)が左大臣に昇進して大いに栄え、その子池守(いけもり)、県守(あがたもり)、広成(ひろなり)、広足(ひろたり)らも大(だい)・中納言(ちゅうなごん)に任じ、奈良中期までは一流貴族の地位を確保したが、その後は藤原氏繁栄の前にしだいに影が薄くなり、平安初期を境に、やがて中央政界から消えていく。武蔵七党(むさししちとう)の一つ丹党(たんとう)は、その子孫の武士化したものである。

［黛　弘道］

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