Kikkawa Hiroie
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Kikkawa Hiroie(吉川広家) is a third son of Kikkawa Motoharu and ruled Iwakuni han. He was born on December 7, 1561 and died on October 22, 1625.
Hiroie's father is Kikkawa Motoharu and his mother is a daughter of Kumagai Nobunao who was well known for her ugliness. He initially was named Tsunenobu(経信) and made his debut on the battle field on 1570 against Amago Katsuhisa with his father. On 1583, he was sent to then the de facto ruler Hashiba Hideyoshi as a hostage.
From 1586 to 1587, his father and his elder brother Kikkawa Motonaga both died and he became the head of Kikkawa clan. Around this time, he changed his name to Hiroie. Unlike his father and his elder brother who was known for the battlefield bravery, Hiroie preferred strategy and diplomacy to win on a battlefield and was highly praised by Hideyoshi for holding Mori clan together after the death of Kobayakawa Takakage. During Seven-Year War, he is noted for successful defeat of much larger Ming army at the battle of Ulsan castle.
In the Battle of Sekigahara on 1600, after realizing that Mori Terumoto would be made the leader of pro-Toyotomi forces by Ishida Mitsunari, Hiroie made a secret pact through Kuroda Nagamasa of his intention to side with Tokugawa Ieyasu in exchange for the protection of Mori clan's domains. On the day of the actual battle, September 15, Hiroie ordered all Mori clan's forces to standstill until Tokugawa forces emerged victorious. After the battle, Ieyasu decided against the secret pact and reduced the Mori clan to Suo and Nagato but this is still a lenient punishment when one considers that almost all other daimyo who opposed Ieyasu lost their domains and that Terumoto served as the leader of the opposition. While Ieyasu recommended that Hiroie to take over Mori clan and rule, Hiroie declined stressing that he had only intended for the clan's continuation.
Hiroie served as the first ruler of the Iwakuni han and laid down a set of laws with 188 clauses and worked for prosperity of his domain. In 1614, Hiroie was succeeded by Kikkawa Hiromasa, his eldest son. Hiroie was still alive, he died twelve years later of the succession, in 1626.
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