Matsudaira clan

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The Matsudaira clan (松平氏, Matsudaira-shi^?) is a Japanese clan that originated in and took its name from Matsudaira county, in the old Mikawa province. It is known for being the clan into which Tokugawa Ieyasu was born. Before taking the Tokugawa surname, he was known as Matsudaira Takechiyo. The reason for changing his surname from Matsudaira to Tokugawa is to claim to have imperial decent from the Minamoto clan, by way of Nitta Yoshisue. In adopting the new surname, Ieyasu founded what became the Tokugawa shogunal house.

Prior to the ascendancy of Ieyasu as shogun, the Matsudaira clan had 14 branches: Takenoya (竹谷, Takenoya^?), Katanohara (形原, Katanohara^?), Ōgusa (大草, Ōgusa^?), Nagasawa (長沢, Nagasawa^?), Nōmi (能見, Nōmi^?), Goi (五井, Goi^?), Fukōzu (深溝, Fukōzu^?), Ogyū (大給, Ogyū^?), Takiwaki (滝脇, Takiwaki^?), Fukama (福釜, Fukama^?), Sakurai (桜井, Sakurai^?), Tōjō (東条, Tōjō^?), Fujii (藤井, Fujii^?), and Mitsugi (三木, Mitsugi^?).^[1] While they did not always see eye to eye, many of these branches went on to become lords of domains in their own right during the Edo Period. Other Matsudaira branches emerged during the Edo period; these were usually founded by younger sons of the ruling shōgun, or sons of the gosanke houses. Some of these include the Matsudaira of Aizu, Echizen, Moriyama han, Takasu, Fuchū, Hamada, and Kuwana, among others.