Ikeda Tsuneoki

Who was Ikeda Tsuneoki?

Ikeda Tsuneoki, also known as Ikeda Nobuteru, was a daimyo and military commander during the Sengoku period and Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 16th century of Japan. He was a retainer of the famous warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His father was Ikeda Toshitsune, who served Oda Nobuhide. There are various theories as to his birthplace.

He was one of the four karō at Kiyosu Castle. His official position was Kii-no-kami, or "Governor of Kii Province". His courtesy name was Shōzaburo. He later became a priest, and referred to himself as Shōnyu. In his early years, he served Nobunaga, since his mother was a foster mother of Nobunaga. In 1570, he was active in the Battle of Anegawa and became the lord of Inuyama Castle. After that, he took part in various battles, such as the Battle of Nagashino against the Takeda clan.

In 1580, he beat Araki Murashige, who locked himself in Hanakuma Castle and was given Murashige's domain. In 1582, he took part in Hashiba Hideyoshi's force at the Battle of Yamazaki after the Incident at Honnō-ji, and beat Akechi Mitsuhide. He also took part in the meeting in Kiyosu Castle. In 1583, he was given 130,000 koku in Mino Province, and became the lord of Ōgaki Castle. In 1584, he took part in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute on the side of Hideyoshi. He captured Inuyama Castle on his first assault. However, he and his eldest son, Ikeda Motosuke, died in the battle at Nagakute. His second son, Ikeda Terumasa, succeeded him as the leader of the Ikeda clan.