Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (1870-1964), Master of Guerrilla Tactics

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck photographed by Heinrich Hopffmann in 1933

Painting of Oberstleutnant Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck

World War I poster of German general Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (1870-1964). "Kolonial-Krieger-Spende. Von Lettow-Vorbeck. Grotemeyer 1918." Library of Congress description: "Poster shows General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck on horseback leading African soldiers. Text at top reads Colonial War Funds; on bottom is facsimile of von Lettow-Vorbeck's signature."

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck at a parade in Berlin, March 1919

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (right) as guest of General Günther von Kluge at army maneuvers in September 1935

Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (20 March 1870 – 9 March 1964) was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force that never exceeded about 14,000 (3,000 Germans and 11,000 Africans), he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Belgian, and Portuguese troops. Essentially undefeated in the field, von Lettow-Vorbeck was the only German commander to successfully invade British Empire soil during World War I. His exploits in the campaign have come down "as the greatest single guerrilla operation in history, and the most successful."

Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck was born into the Pomeranian lower nobility while his father was stationed as an army officer at Saarlouis in the Prussian Rhine Province. He was educated in boarding schools in Berlin and joined the corps of cadets at Potsdam and Berlin-Lichterfelde. In 1890 he was commissioned a Leutnant in the Imperial German Army.

In 1900, von Lettow-Vorbeck was posted to China as a member of the international alliance forces to quell the Boxer Rebellion. He did not like fighting against guerrillas and considered the war a detriment to the discipline of the German Army. He returned from China in 1901 and served as a member of the German General Staff.

Beginning in 1904 he was assigned to German South-West Africa (now Namibia), during the Namaqua and Herero insurrection. However, he did not participate in the subsequent genocide. Having suffered injuries to his left eye and chest, he was evacuated to South Africa for treatment and recovery.

In 1907 he was promoted to major and assigned to the staff of 11th Army Corps. From March 1909 to January 1913 von Lettow-Vorbeck was commander of the marines of II. Seebatallion [2nd Sea Battalion] at Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony, Germany. In October 1913, the German army promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed to command the German colonial forces known as the Schutztruppe (protectorate force) in German Kamerun (today's Cameroon plus a portion of Nigeria). Before he could assume this command, however, his orders were changed and he was posted—effective 13 April 1914—to German East Africa, the mainland of present Tanzania.

While travelling to his new assignment, von Lettow-Vorbeck formed what would prove to be a lifelong friendship with Danish author Isak Dinesen, who was travelling aboard the same liner. Decades later, she recalled, "He belonged to the olden days, and I have never met another German who has given me so strong an impression of what Imperial Germany was and stood for."

Von Lettow-Vorbeck's plan for the war was quite simple: knowing that East Africa would only be a sideshow, he determined to tie down as many British troops as he could. He intended to keep them away from the Western Front, and in this way contribute to Germany's eventual victory.

In August 1914, during the early phases of the World War I, von Lettow-Vorbeck was the commander of a small garrison of just 2,600 German nationals and 2,472 African soldiers in 14 Askari field companies. Realising the need to seize the initiative, he ignored orders from Berlin and the colony's governor, Heinrich Schnee, who had insisted on neutrality for German East Africa. Von Lettow-Vorbeck simply ignored the governor and prepared to repel a major amphibious assault on the city of Tanga. The attack began on 2 November 1914, and for the next four days he fought one of his greatest battles, theBattle of Tanga. He then assembled his men and their scant supplies to attack the British railways in East Africa. He scored a second victory over the British at Jassin on 18 January 1915. These victories gave him badly needed modern rifles and other supplies, as well as critical boost to the morale of his men.

However, von Lettow-Vorbeck also lost many experienced men, including the "splendid Captain Tom von Prince,"whom he could not easily replace.

Von Lettow-Vorbeck knew he could count on his highly motivated officers (their casualty rate was certainly proof of that). Although casualties remained high, Lettow insisted his commanders engage British forces. Unfortunately, the British offered few enticing targets, and forced him to conduct raids into British East Africa (modern Kenya), Uganda and Rhodesia, targeting forts, railways and communications—all with the goal of forcing the Entente to divert manpower from the main theater of war in Europe. He realized the critical needs of guerrilla warfare in that he used everything available to him in matters of supply.

The Schutztruppe recruited new personnel and expanded to its eventual size of some 14,000 soldiers, most of them Askaris, and all well-trained and well-disciplined. Von Lettow-Vorbeck's fluency in the Swahili language earned the respect and admiration of his African soldiers; he appointed black officers and "said—and believed—'we are all Africans here'." In one historian's estimation, "It is probable that no white commander of the era had so keen an appreciation of the African's worth not only as a fighting man but as a man."

He gained the men and artillery of the German cruiser SMS Königsberg (scuttled in 1915 in the Rufiji River delta) which had a capable crew under commander Max Looff, as well as its numerous guns, which were converted into artillery pieces for the land fighting, which would be the largest standard land artillery pieces used in the East African theater. In March 1916 the British under Gen. J. C. Smuts launched a formidable offensive with 45,000 men. Von Lettow-Vorbeck patiently used climate and terrain as his allies while his troops fought the British on his terms and to his advantage. The British, however, kept on adding more troops and forcing von Lettow-Vorbeck to yield territory. Nevertheless, he fought on, including a pivotal battle at Mahiwa in October 1917 where he lost 519 men killed, wounded or missing and the British 2,700 killed, wounded or missing. After the news of the battle reached Germany he was promoted to Generalmajor. The British would recover their losses and continue to hold an overwhelming manpower advantage; for the Schutztruppe it was serious, there were no reserves to again fill the ranks.

Von Lettow-Vorbeck now began a forced withdrawal to the south, with his troops at half rations and the British in pursuit. On 25 November 1917 his advance column waded across the river Rovuma into Portuguese Mozambique. In essence he cut his own supply lines and the Schutztruppe caravan became a nomadic tribe. On their first day across the river they attacked the newly replenished Portuguese garrison of Ngomano and solved all their supply issues for the foreseeable future. When they captured a river steamer with a load of medical supplies, including quinine, at least some of their medical problems were no more. For almost an entire year they had now lived off the land, but mainly with provisions captured from the British and Portuguese; they had replaced their old rifles with new equipment and acquired machine guns and mortars after capturing Namakura (Nhamacurra in modern Mozambique) in July 1918. At the end they had more ammunition than they could carry!

On 28 September 1918 von Lettow-Vorbeck again crossed the Rovuma and returned to German East Africa with the British still in pursuit. He then turned west and raided Northern Rhodesia, thus evading a trap the British had prepared for him in German East Africa. On 13 November 1918, two days after the armistice, he took the town of Kasama which the British had evacuated, and continued heading south-west towards Katanga. When he reached the Chambeshi River on the morning of 14 November, the British magistrate Hector Croad appeared under a white flag and delivered a message from the allied General van Deventer informing him of the armistice. Von Lettow-Vorbeck agreed to a cease-fire at the spot now marked by the Von Lettow-Vorbeck Memorial in present-day Zambia. He was instructed by the British to march north to Abercorn (now Mbala) to surrender his undefeated army, which he did there on 23 November. His remaining army then consisted of 30 German officers, 125 German non-commissioned officers and other enlisted ranks, 1,168 Askaris and some 3,500 porters.

The British and Belgian invasions of German East Africa set off a chain of events with devastating ramifications for the natives and their German overlords. The invasions caused interruptions throughout the colony so that the land no longer "basked in a climate of plenty."

As military commander, Lt. Col. von Lettow-Vorbeck's first obligation was to his army over the objections of Governor Heinrich Schnee. The governor regarded war as the worst possible calamity that could befall German East Africa; it would "undo everything his social and economic reforms had accomplished." Von Lettow-Vorbeck knew he would have to give ground and escape confrontations with Allied forces. He thus established food depots along his intended line of march from Neu Moshi to the Uluguru Mountains, and if the neighboring villages were near starvation, that was a misfortune of war.

Hardly any aid from Germany could penetrate the British blockade to alleviate the enormous supply deficiencies, and only two blockade runners succeeded in reaching the colony. On 14 April 1915 the freighter Kronborg arrived off Tanga at Manza Bay after a two months' journey from Wilhelmshaven, and was promptly attacked by the British cruiser Hyacinth. Fortunately for the Germans, Kronborg had been scuttled by her captain to avoid a coal fire after repeated hits by the British cruiser and the ship settled in shallow water. Nearly its entire cargo could be salvaged. When the steamer Marie von Stettin arrived south of Lindi on 17 March 1916, its precious cargo of 1,500 tons was of only very modest help. A November 1917 attempt to resupply German forces by a Zeppelin airship failed. By late September 1916, all of coastal German East Africa, including Dar es Salaam and the Central Railway, were under British control, with the west occupied by Belgians; then during December 1917 the German colony was officially declared an Allied protectorate.

Von Lettow-Vorbeck and his caravan of Europeans, Askaris, porters, women and children marched on, deliberately bypassing the tribal home lands of the native soldiers in an effort to forestall desertions. They traversed difficult territory, "swamps and jungles ... what a dismal prospect there is in front of me" stated the Allied commander Gen. J. C. Smuts. But Smuts did not flinch. His new approach and objective was not to fight the Schutztruppe at all, but to go after their food supply. The end eventually came some time later with Smuts in London and Gen. J. L. van Deventer in command in East Africa.

In a 1919 book, Ludwig Deppe, a medical doctor campaigning with von Lettow-Vorbeck and former head of the hospital at Tanga, looked back in rue and lamented the tragedy that was imposed by German forces on East Africa in their war with the invading Allies: "Behind us we leave destroyed fields, ransacked magazines and, for the immediate future, starvation. We are no longer the agents of culture, our track is marked by death, plundering and evacuated villages, just like the progress of our own and enemy armies in the Thirty Years' War."

While there was German callousness and harshness, the new British or Belgian masters in German East Africa were by no means benevolent, either. They assumed no responsibility for African welfare and provided little assistance to the malnourished native population; indeed, when food ran short for the Allied formations "the British askaris fell back on the practice of attacking and looting villages." When the worldwide Spanish influenza epidemic swept into eastern Africa in 1918–19 it struck down thousands with impartiality, native and European alike. The weakened state of many natives made them especially susceptible; this included the caged Askaris and porters of the German Schutztruppe, which had been herded together at the Tabora POW camps.

After hostilities ended, the British transferred the German soldiers and POWs to Dar es Salaam for eventual repatriation. In Germany, von Lettow-Vorbeck helped end the Spartacist uprising in Hamburg. This among other minor nefarious activities lost von Lettow-Vorbeck his position in the army. Von Lettow-Vorbeck tried to ensure decent treatment and the briefest time the German Askaris would be caged at Tabora.

Von Lettow-Vorbeck returned home in early March 1919 to a hero's welcome. On a black charger he led 120 officers of the Schutztruppe in their tattered tropical uniforms on a victory parade through the Brandenburg Gate which was decorated in their honor. Though he ultimately surrendered as ordered; he frequently won against great odds and was the only German commander to invade British territory successfully during World War I!

Von Lettow-Vorbeck was a daring yet prudent commander who showed uncanny ability to fight a guerrilla war in unfamiliar terrain. He was respected as a brilliant soldier and a first rate leader by his white officers, non-commissioned officers and Askaris—and beyond that, by his foes. In the field when rations had to be reduced and supplies dwindled,

it was a measure of the Askaris' loyalty to their commander that they accepted the cuts and did not desert en masse. Some did desert, of course ... [as did British, Belgian and Portuguese native troops]. But the German Askaris were by far the most loyal as well as the most effective, and it all went back to von Lettow-Vorbeck's brand of discipline, which bound him and his German officers as much as his black soldiers.

One of von Lettow-Vorbeck's junior officers, Theodor von Hippel, used his experience in Africa to be instrumental in forming the Brandenburgers, the commando unit of the German Abwehr intelligence agency in World War II.

After his return from Africa, von Lettow-Vorbeck married Martha Walroth in 1919; sons were born in 1921 and 1922 and a daughter in 1927. He participated in the chaotic politics of the Weimar Republic, and though he remained in the Army, only fourteen months after his return to Germany, he suppressed a communist uprising in Hamburg, and placed his troops at the disposal of monarchists during the Kapp Putsch. The failure of the putsch forced his resignation from the Reichswehr in May 1920. He then worked at Bremen as an import-export manager.

In June 1926, von Lettow-Vorbeck met Sir Richard Meinertzhagen at Bremen, the British Intelligence officer whom he had fought a battle of wits with until Meinertzhagen was invalided to England in December 1916 (he was later posted to Palestine). Three years later, von Lettow-Vorbeck accepted an invitation to London where he met for the first time face-to-face J. C. Smuts; Von Lettow-Vorbeck and Smuts formed a lasting friendship. When Smuts died in 1950, von Lettow-Vorbeck sent his widow a moving letter of sympathy.

(A similar oft-quoted claim states that von Lettow-Vorbeck also apologized for the "ungentlemanly death" of British hunter Frederick Selous at the hands of one of his snipers, however this claim is not supported by contemporary evidence.)

Between May 1928 and July 1930, the former General served as a Reichstag deputy for the monarchist German National People's Party. He intensely "distrusted Hitler and his movement," even though Hitler offered him the ambassadorship to the Court of St. James's in 1935, he "declined with frigid hauteur." During the 1960s, Charles Miller asked the nephew of a Schutztruppe officer, "I understand that von Lettow told Hitler to go fuck himself." The nephew responded, "That's right, except that I don't think he put it that politely."

After his blunt refusal, he "was kept under continual surveillance" and his home office was searched. The only rehabilitation due to his legendary standing among the populace came in 1938, when at age 68, he was named a General for Special Purposes, but was never recalled into active service.

By the end of World War II, von Lettow-Vorbeck was destitute. His two sons, Rüdiger and Arnd had both been killed in action serving in the Wehrmacht. His house in Bremen had been destroyed by Allied bombs, and he depended for a time on food packages from Meinertzhagen and Smuts. With the German economic miracle, he began to enjoy comfortable circumstances again. In 1953 he visited his other home, East Africa, where he was heartily welcomed by surviving Askaris who greeted him with their old marching song Heia Safari! and was received with full military honours by British colonial officials.

In 1964, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck died in Hamburg. The West German government and the Bundeswehr flew in two former Askaris as state guests, so that they could attend the funeral of "their" general. Several officers of the Bundeswehr were assigned as an honor guard, and West Germany's Minister of Defense, Kai-Uwe von Hassel, gave the eulogy, saying that the deceased, "was truly undefeated in the field." Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was buried in Pronstorf, Schleswig-Holstein in the cemetery of Vicelin Church.

In the year of von Lettow-Vorbeck's death, the West German Bundestag voted to deliver back pay to all surviving Askaris. A temporary cashier's office was set up in Mwanza on Lake Victoria. Of the 350 veterans who gathered, only a handful could produce the certificates that von Lettow-Vorbeck had given them in 1918. Others presented pieces of their old uniforms as proof of service. The German banker who had brought the money came up with an idea. As each claimant stepped forward, he was handed a broom and ordered in German to perform the manual of arms. Not one man failed the test!

Four barracks of the Federal German Army, or Bundeswehr, were once named in his honor. They were situated at Leer, Hamburg-Jenfeld, Bremen and Bad Segeberg. Following the recent closure of 178 military installations, the only one remaining is the Lettow-Vorbeck-Kaserne in Leer, East Frisia.

In the spring of 2010, the City Council of Saarlouis renamed Von Lettow-Vorbeck-Straße. In Hanover, "Lettow-Vorbeck Straße" was renamed "Namibia Straße". In Wuppertal, Cuxhaven, Mönchengladbach, Radolfzell and Halle there are still streets named after General von Lettow-Vorbeck.

The dryosaurid species Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki was named after von Lettow-Vorbeck.

Von Lettow-Vorbeck in popular cultures:

• Von Lettow-Vorbeck appears in a 1993 episode of the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. The episode, which was titled "The Phantom Train of Doom", begins with Indiana Jones as an officer in the Belgian Army during World War I. Determined to destroy a Schutztruppe armored train, Indiana takes General von Lettow-Vorbeck (Tom Bell) hostage and attempts to return with him to Allied lines. When the Schutztruppe tracks them down, Indy draws his revolver in order to shoot the general, but ultimately decides to let him go. The general magnanimously gives him a compass and the two part as friends.
• Von Lettow-Vorbeck is the protagonist of The Ghosts of Africa, a 1980 historical novel by Anglo-Canadian novelist William Stevenson about the East African Campaign which highlighted the long-distance resupply mission of the giant German rigid airship L.59.
• Von Lettow-Vorbeck appears as a character in Peter Høeg's short story, "Journey into a Dark Heart", which is the opening story in his 1990 collection, Tales of the Night. In this story Høeg imagines von Lettow-Vorbeck travelling through Africa by train at night accompanied by Joseph Conrad.
• Much of the history of von Lettow-Vorbeck's war campaign in Africa is detailed in the 2011 book Speak Swahili, Dammit! by James Penhaligon.
• A German film, Lettow-Vorbeck: Der deutsch-ostafrikanische Imperativ, was produced in 1984.

Sources:

www.bundesarchiv.de

www.en.wikipedia.org

www.traditionsverband.de

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), Undefeated Samurai

Miyamoto Musashi in his prime, wielding two bokken. Woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Miyamoto Musashi having his fortune told. Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

"Seishin Chokudo" (earnest heart, straight way) monument dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, located in Kokura. These characters were engraved by Musashi on his bokken. It stands on the place where Musashi is supposed to have lived, at the foot of the castle. The Hombu dojo of a main branch of Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryū is in Kokura and demonstrates every year in front of this monument.

Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵?, c. 1584 – June 13, 1645), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He was the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪書 Go Rin No Sho?), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today! Miyamoto Musashi is widely considered as a Kensei and one of the greatest warriors of all time!

The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Musashi himself simply states in Gorin no Sho that he was born in Harima Province. Niten Ki (an early biography of Musashi) supports the theory that Musashi was born in 1584: "[He] was born in Banshū, in Tenshō 12 [1584], the Year of the Monkey." The historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, notes: "[...]Munisai was Musashi's father...he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district [of Mimasaka Province]. Musashi was most probably born here." His childhood name was Bennosuke 弁之助.

Musashi gives his full name and title in Gorin no Sho as Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Genshin." (新免武蔵守藤原玄信) His father, Shinmen Munisai 新免無二斎, was an accomplished martial artist and master of the sword and jutte (also jitte). Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shōgen 平田将監, a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takayama Castle in the Yoshino district of Mimasaka Province. Hirata was relied upon by Lord Shinmen, and so was allowed to use the Shinmen name. As for "Musashi," Musashi no Kami was a court title, making him the nominal governor of Musashi province. "Fujiwara" was the lineage from which Musashi claimed nominal descent.

Mysteriously, Munisai's tomb says he died in 1580, which obviously conflicts with the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi. Further muddying the waters, according to the genealogy of the extant Miyamoto family, Musashi was born in 1582. Kenji Tokitsu has suggested that the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi is wrong, as it is primarily based on a literal reading of the introduction to the Go Rin No Sho where Musashi states that the years of his life "add up to 60" (yielding the twelfth year of the Tensho era, or 1584, when working backwards from the well-documented date of composition), when it should be taken in a more literary and imprecise sense, indicating not a specific age but merely that Musashi was in his sixties when he wrote it.

Because of the uncertainty centering on Munisai (when he died, whether he was truly Musashi's father, etc.), Musashi's mother is known with even less confidence. Here are a few possibilities:

Munisai's tomb was correct. He died in 1580, leaving two daughters; his wife adopted a recently born child, from the Akamatsu clan, intended to succeed Munisai at his jitte school. Omasa, Munisai's widow, was not Musashi's biological mother.

The tomb was wrong. Munisai lived a good deal longer, later than 1590 possibly. Musashi, then, was born to Munisai's first wife, Yoshiko (daughter to Bessho Shigeharu, who formerly controlled Hirafuku village until he lost a battle in 1578 to Yamanaka Shikanosuke). Munisai divorced her after Musashi's birth, whereupon she decamped for her father's house, leaving Musashi with Munisai. Musashi grew up treating Munisai's second wife, Omasa (daughter to Lord Shinmen) as his mother. This second scenario is laid out in an entry to the Tasumi family's genealogy. The daughter of Bessho Shigeharu first married Hirata Muni and was divorced from him a few years later. After that she married Tasumi Masahisa. The second wife of Tasumi Masahisa was the mother of Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi's childhood name was Hirata Den. During his childhood, he went to Hirafuku to find his real mother. He moved in with the Tasumi family.

A variant of this second theory is based on the fact that the tombstone states that Omasa gave birth to Musashi on 4 March 1584, and died of it. Munisai then remarried to Yoshiko. They divorced, as in the second theory, but Yoshiko took Musashi, who was 7 at the time, with her, and married Tasumi Masahisa.

Kenji Tokitsu prefers to assume a birth date of 1581, which avoids the necessity of assuming the tombstone to be erroneous (although this poses the problem of from whom then Musashi received the transmission of the family martial art).

Regardless of the truth about Musashi's ancestry, when Musashi was seven years old, the boy was raised by his uncle, Dorinbo (or Dorin), in Shoreian temple, three kilometers (~1.8 mi.) from Hirafuku. Both Dorin and Musashi's uncle by marriage — Tasumi — educated him in Buddhism and basic skills such as writing and reading. This education is possibly the basis for Yoshikawa Eiji's fictional education of Musashi by the historical Zen monk Takuan. He was apparently trained by Munisai in the sword, and in the family art of the jutte. This training did not last for a very long time, as in 1589, Munisai was ordered by Shinmen Sokan to kill Munisai's student, Honiden Gekinosuke. The Honiden family was displeased, and so Munisai was forced to move four kilometers (~2.5 mi.) away to the village of Kawakami.

In 1592, Munisai died, although Tokitsu believes that the person who died at this time was really Hirata Takehito.

Musashi contracted eczema in his infancy, and this adversely affected his appearance. Another story claims that he never took a bath because he did not want to be surprised unarmed. While the former claim may or may not have some basis in reality, the latter seems improbable. An unwashed member of the warrior caste would not have been received as a guest by such houses as Honda, Ogasawara and Hosokawa. These and many other details are likely embellishments that were added to his legend, or misinterpretations of literature describing him.

His father's fate is uncertain, but it is thought that he died at the hands of one of Musashi's later adversaries, who was punished or even killed for treating Musashi's father badly. However, there are no exact details of Musashi's life, since Musashi's only writings are those related to strategy and technique.

The name "Musashi" was thought to be taken from the name of a warrior monk named Musashibō Benkei who served under Minamoto no Yoshitsune, but this is unconfirmed.

It is said that he may have studied at the Yoshioka-ryū dojo (school), which was also said to be a school Musashi defeated single-handedly during his later years, although this is very uncertain. He did have formal training either by his father until he was 7 years old or from his uncle beginning at the age of 7. Ultimately the name was taken from his own original kanji, 武蔵, which can be read as Takezō or as Musashi, as stated in Eiji Yoshikawa's famous book Musashi.

I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen I fought a duel for the first time. My opponent was called Arima Kihei, a sword adept of the Shinto ryū, and I defeated him. At the age of sixteen I defeated a powerful adept by the name of Akiyama, who came from Tajima Province. At the age of twenty-one I went up to Kyōtō and fought duels with several adepts of the sword from famous schools, but I never lost.

—Miyamoto Musashi, Go Rin No Sho

According to the introduction of The Book of Five Rings, Musashi states that his first successful duel was at the age of thirteen, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shintō-ryū style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (b. 1489, d. 1571). The main source of the duel is the Hyoho senshi denki ("Anecdotes about the Deceased Master"). Summarized, its account goes as follows:

In 1596, Musashi was 13, and Arima Kihei, who was traveling to hone his art, posted a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi wrote his name on the challenge. A messenger came to Dorin's temple, where Musashi was staying, to inform Musashi that his duel had been accepted by Kihei. Dorin, Musashi's uncle, was shocked by this, and tried to beg off the duel in Musashi's name, based on his nephew's age. Kihei was adamant that the only way his honor could be cleared was if Musashi apologized to him when the duel was scheduled. So when the time set for the duel arrived, Dorin began apologizing for Musashi, who merely charged at Kihei with a six-foot quarterstaff, shouting a challenge to Kihei. Kihei attacked with a wakizashi, but Musashi threw Kihei on the floor, and while Kihei tried to get up, Musashi struck Arima between the eyes and then beat him to death. Arima was said to have been arrogant, overly eager to fight, and not a terribly talented swordsman.

—William Scott Wilson, The Lone Samurai

In 1599, three years later, Musashi left his village, apparently at the age of 15 (according to the Tosakushi, "The Registry of the Sakushu Region", although the Tanji Hokin Hikki says he was 16 years old in 1599, which agrees time-wise with the age reported in Musashi's first duel). His family possessions such as furniture, weapons, genealogy, and other records were left with his sister and her husband, Hirao Yoemon.

He spent his time traveling and engaging in duels, such as with an adept called Akiyama from the Tajima Province.

In 1600, a war began between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans. Musashi apparently fought on the side of the Toyotomi's "Army of the West", as the Shinmen clan (to whom his family owed allegiance) had allied with them. Specifically, he participated in the attempt to take Fushimi castle by assault in July 1600, in the defense of the besieged Gifu Castle in August of the same year, and finally in the Battle of Sekigahara. Some doubt has been cast on this final battle, as the Hyoho senshi denki has Musashi saying he is "no lord's vassal" and refusing to fight with his father (in Lord Ukita's battalion) in the battle. Omitting the Battle of Sekigahara from the list of Musashi's battles would seem to contradict the Go Rin No Sho's statement that Musashi fought in six battles, however. Regardless, as the Toyotomi side lost, it has been suggested that Musashi fled as well and spent some time training on Mount Hiko.

After the battle, Musashi disappears from the records for a while. The next mention of him has him arriving in Kyoto at the age of 20 (or 21), where he began a series of duels against the Yoshioka School. Musashi's father, Munisai, also fought against a master of the Yoshioka school and won 2 out of 3 bouts in front of the shogun at the time, Ashikaga Yoshiaki who granted him the title of "Unrivaled Under The Sun". The Yoshioka School (descended from either the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū or the Kyo-hachi-ryū) was the foremost of the eight major schools of martial arts in Kyoto, the "Kyo-ryū" / "Schools of Kyoto". Legend has it that these eight schools were founded by eight monks taught by a legendary martial artist resident on the sacred Mount Kurama. At some point, the Yoshioka family also began to make a name for itself not merely in the art of the sword but also in the textile business and for a dye unique to them. They gave up teaching swordsmanship in 1614 when they fought in the Army of the West against Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Osaka, which they lost. But in 1604, when Musashi began duelling them, they were still preeminent. There are various accounts of the duels — the Yoshioka family documents claim that there was only one, against Yoshioka Kenpō, which Musashi lost.

Musashi challenged Yoshioka Seijūrō, master of the Yoshioka School, to a duel. Seijūrō accepted, and they agreed to a duel outside Rendaiji in Rakuhoku, in the northern part of Kyoto on 8 March 1604. Musashi arrived late, greatly irritating Seijūrō. They faced off, and Musashi struck a single blow, per their agreement. This blow struck Seijūrō on the left shoulder, knocking him out, and crippling his left arm. He apparently passed on the headship of the school to his equally accomplished brother, Yoshioka Denshichirō, who promptly challenged Musashi for revenge. The duel took place in Kyoto outside a temple, Sanjūsangen-dō. Denshichirō wielded a staff reinforced with steel rings (or possibly with a ball-and-chain attached), while Musashi arrived late a second time. Musashi disarmed Denshichirō and defeated him. This second victory outraged the Yoshioka family, whose head was now the 12-year old Yoshioka Matashichiro. They assembled a force of archers, musketeers and swordsmen, and challenged Musashi to a duel outside Kyoto, near Ichijō-ji Temple. Musashi broke his previous habit of arriving late, and came to the temple hours early. Hidden, Musashi assaulted the force, killing Matashichiro, and escaping while being attacked by dozens of his victim's supporters. To escape and fight off his opponents he was forced to draw his second sword and defend himself with a sword in each hand. This was the beginning of his niten'ichi sword style. With the death of Matashichiro, this branch of the Yoshioka School was destroyed.

After Musashi left Kyoto, some sources recount that he travelled to Hōzōin in Nara, to duel with and learn from the monks there, widely known as experts with lance weapons. There he settled down at Enkoji Temple in Banshū, where he taught the head monk's (one Tada Hanzaburo's) brother. Hanzaburo's grandson would found the Ensu-ryū based on the Enmei-ryū teachings and iaijutsu.

From 1605 to 1612, he travelled extensively all over Japan in musha shugyō, a warrior pilgrimage during which he honed his skills with duels. He was said to have used bokken or bokuto in actual duels. Most of the engagements from these times did not try to take the opponent's life unless both agreed, but in most duels, it is known that Musashi did not care which weapon his foe used — such was his mastery.

A document dated 5 September 1607, purporting to be a transmission by Miyamoto Munisai of his teachings, suggests Munisai lived at least to this date. In this year, Musashi departed Nara for Edo, during which he fought (and killed) a kusarigama practitioner named Shishido Baiken. In Edo, Musashi defeated Musō Gonnosuke, who would found an influential staff-wielding school known as Shintō Musō-ryū. Records of this first duel can be found in both the Shinto Muso-ryu tradition and the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū (Miyamoto Musashi's school). The Shinto Muso Ryu tradition states that, after being defeated by Musashi, Muso Gonnusuke beat Musashi in a rematch. There are no current reliable sources outside the Shinto Muso Ryu tradition to confirm that this second duel took place.

Musashi is said to have fought over 60 duels and was never defeated, although this is a conservative estimate, most likely not accounting for deaths by his hand in major battles. In 1611, Musashi began practicing zazen at the Myōshin-ji temple, where he met Nagaoka Sado, vassal to Hosokawa Tadaoki; Tadaoki was a powerful lord who had received the Kumamoto Domain in west-central Kyūshū after the Battle of Sekigahara. Munisai had moved to northern Kyūshū and became Tadaoki's teacher, leading to the possibility that Munisai introduced the two. Nagaoka proposed a duel with a certain adept named Sasaki Kojirō. Tokitsu believes that the duel was politically motivated, a matter of consolidating Tadaoki's control over his fief.

On April 13, 1612, Musashi (about age 30) fought his duel with Sasaki Kojirō, who was known as "The Demon of the Western Provinces" and who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the island of Funajima, in the Kanmon Straits separating Honshū and Kyūshū. The duel was short. Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that legend says he had carved from an oar used on the boat that carried him to the island. Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful, while Musashi's supporters thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. The tide carried him to the island. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was helped by the turning of the tide. Another theory states he waited for the sun to get in the right position. After he dodged a blow, Sasaki was blinded by the sun.

In 1614–1615, Musashi participated in the war between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa. The war had broken out because Tokugawa Ieyasu saw the Toyotomi family as a threat to his rule of Japan; most scholars believe that, as in the previous war, Musashi fought on the Toyotomi side. Osaka Castle was the central place of battle. The first battle (the Winter Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fourth battle) ended in a truce. The second (the Summer Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fifth battle) resulted in the total defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori's Army of the West by Ieyasu's Army of the East in May 1615. Some reports go so far as to say that Musashi entered a duel with Ieyasu, but was recruited after Ieyasu sensed his defeat was at hand. This may seem unlikely since Ieyasu was in his 70s and was in poor health already, but it remains unknown how Musashi came into Ieyasu's good graces.

Other accounts claim he actually served on the Tokugawa side, but such a claim is unproven, although Musashi had a close relationship with some Tokugawa vassals through his duel with Sasaki Kojirō, and in the succeeding years, he did not drop out of sight as might be expected if he were being persecuted for being on the losing side. In his later years, Ogasawara and Hosokawa supported Musashi greatly — an atypical course of action for these Tokugawa loyalists, if Musashi had indeed fought on behalf of the Toyotomi.

In 1615 he entered the service of Ogasawara Tadanao (小笠原忠直) of Harima Province, at Ogasawara's invitation, as a "Construction Supervisor," after previously gaining skills in craft. He helped construct Akashi Castle and in 1621 to lay out the organization of the town of Himeji. He also taught martial arts during his stay, specializing in instruction in the art of shuriken-throwing. During this period of service, he adopted a son.

In 1621, Musashi defeated Miyake Gunbei and three other adepts of the Togun-ryu in front of the lord of Himeji; it was after this victory that he helped plan Himeji. Around this time, Musashi developed a number of disciples for his Enmei-ryū although he had developed the school considerably earlier; at the age of 22, Musashi had already written a scroll of Enmei-ryū teachings called "Writings on the Sword Technique of the Enmei-ryū" (Enmei-ryū kenpo sho). 円/"En" meant "circle" or "perfection"; 明/"mei" meant "light"/"clarity", and 流/"ryū" meant "school"; the name seems to have been derived from the idea of holding the two swords up in the light so as to form a circle. The school's central idea is given as training to use the twin swords of the samurai as effectively as a pair of sword and jutte.

In 1622, Musashi's adoptive son, Miyamoto Mikinosuke, became a vassal to the Himeji Domain. Possibly this prompted Musashi to leave, embarking on a new series of travels, winding up in Edo in 1623, where he became friends with the Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan, who was one of the Shogun's advisors. Musashi applied to become a swordmaster to the Shogun, but as he already had two swordmasters (Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki and Yagyū Munenori — the latter also a political advisor, in addition to his position as the head of the Shogunate's secret police), Musashi's application was denied. He left Edo in the direction of Ōshū, ending up in Yamagata, where he adopted a second son, Miyamoto Iori. The two then traveled, eventually stopping in Osaka.

In 1626, Miyamoto Mikinosuke, following the custom of junshi, committed seppuku because of the death of his lord. In this year, Miyamoto Iori entered Lord Ogasawara's service. Musashi's attempt to become a vassal to the lord of Owari, like other such attempts, failed.

In 1627, Musashi began to travel again. In 1634 he settled in Kokura with Iori, and later entered the service of the daimyo Ogasawara Tadazane, taking a major role in the Shimabara Rebellion. Iori served with distinction in putting down the rebellion and gradually rose to the rank of karō — a position equal to a minister. Musashi, however was reputedly injured by a thrown rock while scouting in the front line, and was thus unnoticed.

Six years later, in 1633, Musashi began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyo of Kumamoto Castle, who had moved to the Kumamoto fief and Kokura, to train and paint. Ironically, it was at this time that the Hosokawa lords were also the patrons of Musashi's chief rival, Sasaki Kojirō. While there he engaged in very few duels; one would occur in 1634 at the arrangement of Lord Ogasawara, in which Musashi defeated a lance specialist by the name of Takada Matabei. Musashi would officially become the retainer of the Hosokowa lords of Kumamoto in 1640. The Niten Ki records "[he] received from Lord Tadatoshi: 17 retainers, a stipend of 300 koku, the rank of ōkumigashira 大組頭, and Chiba Castle in Kumamoto as his residence."

In the second month of 1641, Musashi wrote a work called the Hyoho Sanju Go ("Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy") for Hosokawa Tadatoshi; this work overlapped and formed the basis for the later Go Rin No Sho. This was the year that his third son, Hirao Yoemon, became Master of Arms for the Owari fief. In 1642, Musashi suffered attacks of neuralgia, foreshadowing his future ill-health. In 1643 he retired to a cave named Reigandō as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it in the second month of 1645. On the twelfth of the fifth month, sensing his impending death, Musashi bequeathed his worldly possessions, after giving his manuscript copy of the Go Rin No Sho to the younger brother of Terao Magonojo, his closest disciple. He died in Reigandō cave around June 13, 1645 (Shōhō 3, 30th day of the 4th month). The Hyoho senshi denki described his passing:

At the moment of his death, he had himself raised up. He had his belt tightened and his wakizashi put in it. He seated himself with one knee vertically raised, holding the sword with his left hand and a cane in his right hand. He died in this posture, at the age of sixty-two. The principal vassals of Lord Hosokawa and the other officers gathered, and they painstakingly carried out the ceremony. Then they set up a tomb on Mount Iwato on the order of the lord.

Musashi died of what is believed to be thoracic cancer, and was not killed in combat. He died peacefully after finishing the Dokkōdō ("The Way of Walking Alone", or "The Way of Self-Reliance"), 21 precepts on self-discipline to guide future generations.

His body was interred in armor within the village of Yuge, near the main road near Mount Iwato, facing the direction the Hosokawas would travel to Edo; his hair was buried on Mount Iwato itself.

Nine years later, a major source about his life — a monument with a funereal eulogy to Musashi — was erected in Kokura by Miyamoto Iori; this monument was called the Kokura hibun. An account of Musashi's life, the Niten-ki 二天記, was published in Kumamoto in 1776, by Toyota Kagehide, based on the recollections of his grandfather Toyota Masataka, who was a second generation pupil of Musashi.

Musashi created and perfected a two-sword kenjutsu technique called niten'ichi (二天一, "two heavens as one") or nitōichi (二刀一, "two swords as one") or "Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu" (A Kongen Buddhist Sutra refers to the two heavens as the two guardians of Buddha). In this technique, the swordsman uses both a large sword, and a "companion sword" at the same time, such as a katana with a wakizashi. Although he had mastership in this style of two swords, he most commonly used a katana in duels.

The two-handed movements of temple drummers may have inspired him, although it could be that the technique was forged through Musashi's combat experience. Jutte techniques were taught to him by his father — the jutte was often used in battle paired with a sword; the jutte would parry and neutralize the weapon of the enemy while the sword struck or the practitioner grappled with the enemy. In his time a long sword in the left hand was referred to as gyaku nito. Today Musashi's style of swordsmanship is known as Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū.

Musashi was also an expert in throwing weapons. He frequently threw his short sword, and Kenji Tokitsu believes that shuriken methods for the wakizashi were the Niten Ichi Ryu's secret techniques.

Musashi spent many years studying Buddhism and swordsmanship. He was an accomplished artist, sculptor, and calligrapher. Records also show that he had architectural skills. Also, he seems to have had a rather straightforward approach to combat, with no additional frills or aesthetic considerations. This was probably due to his real-life combat experience; although in his later life, Musashi followed the more artistic side of bushidō. He made various Zen brush paintings, calligraphy, and sculpted wood and metal. Even in The Book of Five Rings he emphasizes that samurai should understand other professions as well. It should be understood that Musashi's writings were very ambiguous, and translating them into English makes them even more so; that is why so many different translations of the Go Rin No Sho can be found. To gain further insight into Musashi's principles and personality, one could read his other works, such as Dokkodo and Hyoho Shiji ni Kajo.

Throughout Musashi's last book, The Book of Five Rings (五輪書 Go Rin no Sho?), Musashi seems to take a very philosophical approach to looking at the "craft of war"; "There are five ways in which men pass through life: as gentlemen, warriors, farmers, artisans and merchants." These falling into one of the few profession groups that could be observed in Musashi's time.

Throughout the book, Musashi implies that the way of the Warrior, as well as the meaning of a "True strategist" is that of somebody who has made mastery of many art forms away from that of the sword, such as tea drinking (sado), laboring, writing, and painting as Musashi practiced throughout his life. Musashi was hailed as an extraordinary sumi-e artist in the use of ink monochrome as depicted in two such paintings: "Shrike Perched in a Dead Tree" (Koboku Meigekizu, 枯木鳴鵙図) and "Wild Geese Among Reeds" (Rozanzu, 魯山図). Going back to the Book of Five Rings, Musashi talks deeply about the ways of Buddhism.

He makes particular note of artisans and foremen. In the time in which he writes the book, the majority of houses in Japan were made of wood. In the use of building a house, foremen have to employ strategy based upon the skill and ability of their workers.

In comparison to warriors and soldiers, Musashi notes the ways in which the artisans thrive through events; the ruin of houses, the splendor of houses, the style of the house, the tradition and name or origins of a house. These too, are similar to the events which are seen to have warriors and soldiers thrive; the rise and fall of prefectures, countries and other such events are what make uses for warriors, as well as the literal comparisons of the: "The carpenter uses a master plan of the building, and the way of strategy is similar in that there is a plan of campaign".

Throughout the book, Go Rin No Sho, the idea which Musashi pushes is that the "way of the strategist" (Heihō 兵法) is similar to how a carpenter and his tools are mutually inclusive, e.g. — a carpenter can do nothing without his tools, and vice versa. This too, he compares to skill, and tactical ability in the field of battle.

Initially, Musashi notes that throughout China and Japan, there are many "sword fencers" who walk around claiming they are strategists, but are, in fact, not — this may be because Musashi had defeated some such strategists, such as Arima Kihei.

The idea is that by reading his writings, one can become a true strategist from ability and tactical skill that Musashi had learned in his lifetime. He argues that strategy and virtue are something which can be earned by knowing the ways of life, the professions that are around, to perhaps learn the skills and knowledge of people and the skills of their particular professions.

However, Musashi seems to state that the value of strategy seems to be homogeneous. He notes that:

The attendants of the Kashima Kantori shrines of the province Hitachi received instruction from the gods, and made schools based on this teaching, travelling from province to province instructing men. This is the recent meaning of strategy.

As well as noting that strategy is destined to die;

Of course, men who study in this way think they are training the body and spirit, but it is an obstacle to the true way, and its bad influence remains forever. Thus the true way of strategy is becoming decadent and dying out.

As a form, strategy was said to be one of "Ten Abilities and Seven Arts" that a warrior should have, but Musashi disagrees that one person can gain strategy by being confined to one particular style, which seems particularly fitting as he admits "I practice many arts and abilities — all things with no teacher" — this perhaps being one of the reasons he was so highly regarded a swordsman.

Musashi's metaphor for strategy is that of the bulb and the flower, similar to Western philosophy of "the chicken or the egg", the "bulb" being the student, the "flower" being the technique. He also notes that most places seem to be mostly concerned with their technique and its beauty. Musashi writes, "In this kind of way of strategy, both those teaching and those learning the way are concerned with coloring and showing off their technique, trying to hasten the bloom of the flower" (as opposed to the actual harmony between strategy and skill.)

With those who are concerned with becoming masters of strategy, Musashi points out that as a carpenter becomes better with his tools and is able to craft things with more expert measure, so too can a warrior, or strategist become more skilled in his technique. However, just as a carpenter needs to be able to use his tools according to plans, so too must a strategist be able to adapt his style or technique to the required strategy of the battle he is currently engaged in.

This description also draws parallels between the weapons of a trooper (or soldier) and the tools of a carpenter; the idea of "the right tool for the right job" seems to be implied a lot throughout the book Go Rin No Sho. Musashi also puts into motion the idea that when a carpenter is skilled enough in aspects of his job, and creates them with expert measure, then he can become a foreman.

Although it is not expressly mentioned, it may be seen that Musashi indicated that when you have learned the areas in which your craft requires, be it carpentry, farming, fine art or battle, and are able to apply them to any given situation, then you will be experienced enough to show others the wisdom of your ways, be it as a foreman of craftsmen, or as a general of an army.

From further reading into the book, the idea of "weapons within strategy," as well as Musashi referring to the power of the writer, may seem that the strategy which Musashi refers to does not exclusively reside within the domain of weaponry and duels, but within the realm of war and battles with many men:

Just as one man can beat ten, so a hundred men can beat a thousand, and a thousand can beat ten thousand. In my strategy, one man is the same as ten thousand, so this strategy is the complete warrior's craft.

Within the book, Musashi mentions that the use of two swords within strategy is mutually beneficial between those who utilize this skill. The idea of using two hands for a sword is an idea which Musashi disagrees with, in that there is not fluidity in movement when using two hands — "If you hold a sword with both hands, it is difficult to wield it freely to left and right, so my method is to carry the sword in one hand"; he as well disagrees with the idea of using a sword with two hands on a horse, and/or riding on unstable terrain, such as muddy swamps, rice fields, or within crowds of people.

In order to learn the strategy of Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu, Musashi employs that by training with two long swords, one in each hand, you will be able to overcome the cumbersome nature of using a sword in both hands. Although difficult, Musashi agrees that there are times in which the long sword must be used with two hands, but if your skill is good enough, you should not need it. The idea of using two long swords is that you are starting with something to which you are unaccustomed, and that you will find difficult, but will adapt to after much use.

After using two long swords proficiently enough, Musashi then states that your mastery of a long sword, and a "companion sword", most likely a wakizashi, will be much increased — "When you become used to wielding the long sword, you will gain the power of the Way and wield the sword well.".

In short, it could be seen that from the excerpts from Go Rin No Sho, the real strategy behind Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu, is that there is no real iron-clad method, path, or type of weaponry that is specific to the style of Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu:

You can win with a long weapon, and yet you can also win with a short weapon. In short, the Way of the Ichi school is the spirit of winning, whatever the weapon and whatever its size.

The strategy of the long sword is different than other strategies, in that it is much more straightforward. In the strategy of the longsword, it seems that Musashi's ideal was, that by mastering gripping the sword with two fingers, it could become a platform used for moving onto the mastery of Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu, as well as being able to use two broadswords, or more masterfully use a companion sword.

However, just because the grip is to be light, it does not mean that the attack or slash from the sword will be weak. As with any other technique in the Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu, he notes:

If you try to wield the long sword quickly, you will mistake the way. To wield the long sword well, you must wield it calmly. If you try to wield it quickly, like a folding fan or a short sword, you will err by using "short sword chopping". You cannot cut down a man with a long sword using this method.

As with most disciplines in martial arts, Musashi notes that the movement of the sword after the cut is made must not be superfluous; instead of quickly returning to a stance or position, one should allow the sword to come to the end of its path from the force used. In this manner, the technique will become freely flowing, as opposed to abrupt.

Musashi also discouraged the use of only one sword for fighting, and the use of over-large swords like nodachi because they were cumbersome and unwieldy.

Even from a late age, Musashi separated his religion from his involvement in swordsmanship. Excerpts such as the one below, from The Book of Five Rings, demonstrate a philosophy that is thought to have stayed with him throughout his life:

There are many ways: Confucianism, Buddhism, the ways of elegance, rice-planting, or dance; these things are not to be found in the way of the warrior.

However, the belief that Musashi disliked Shinto is inaccurate, as he criticises the Shintō-ryū style of swordsmanship, and not Shinto, the religion. In Musashi's Dokkodo, his stance on religion is further elucidated: "Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help."

In his later years, Musashi claimed in his Go Rin No Sho: "When I apply the principle of strategy to the ways of different arts and crafts, I no longer have need for a teacher in any domain." He proved this by creating recognized masterpieces of calligraphy and classic ink painting. His paintings are characterized by skilled use of ink washes and an economy of brush stroke. He especially mastered the "broken ink" school of landscapes, applying it to other subjects, such as his Kobokumeikakuzu ("Shrike Perched on a Withered Branch"; part of a triptych whose other two members were "Hotei Walking" and "Sparrow on Bamboo"), his Hotei Watching a Cockfight, and his Rozanzu ("Wild Geese Among Reeds").

Even in Musashi's time there were fictional texts resembling comic books. It is therefore quite difficult to separate fact from fiction when discussing his life. There have been numerous works of fiction made about or featuring Musashi, such as the popular fantasy series "The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel". Among them are also several dozen films, including several with the title of Miyamoto Musashi. One of these, released in the English-speaking world as Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, is the Academy Award–winning film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirô Mifune. Eiji Yoshikawa's novelization has greatly influenced successive fictional depictions (including the ongoing manga Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue) and is often mistaken for a factual account of Musashi's life.

Source:

www.en.wikipedia.org

Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), Preeminent Daimyo in Feudal Japan

Portrait of Takeda Harunobu (or Shingen)

Takeda Shingen from "Samurai Warriors"

"Takeda Harunobu Nyūdō Shingen" from "One hundred generals, brave at battle, at Kawanakajima" by artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561

Takeda Shingen (left) versus Uesugi Kenshin (right) in Kawanakajima bronze statue, Kawanakajima, Nagano-shi, Nagano, Japan

Takeda Shingen (武田 信玄?, December 1, 1521 – May 13, 1573), of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.

Takeda Shingen was the eldest son of the aggressive warlord Takeda Nobutora (1493-1573). A competent if not especially well-liked leader, Nobutora had secured the position of the Takeda in Kai and established his headquarters in Fuchu in 1519, building a castle called Yogai-jo on Maruyama, an 820-meter height north of the town. In the course of his career Nobutora fended off attacks against her borders by the Imagawa (1521) and the Hôjô (1526). During the campaign in 1521, Nobutora defeated an Imagawa general named Fukushima Ujikatsu at the Battle of Iidagawara and soon afterwards learned of the birth of his first son, whom he named Katsuchiyo.

When Katsuchiyo turned 13, Nobutora arranged for him to marry the daughter of Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Tomooki, who still held considerable lands in the Kanto. This unfortunate young woman would die the following year, terminating what would, in time, come to seem a highly ironic union. Katsuchiyo's coming of age ceremony (around 1535) was something of an affair, and a number of court notables were in attendance, including a certain Sanjô Kinyori, a retired Dainogon, whose daughter Katsuchiyo would soon marry. The Shôgun, Ashikaga Yoshiharu, sent permission for Katsuchiyo to incorporate 'Haru' in his adult name, and Katsuchiyo thus became known as Harunobu. He was also given the honorific title Shinano no Kami (an appropriate moniker, as it would turn out). Despite this memorable coming of age ceremony, it would seem that Nobutora took a disliking to his eldest son. The reasons for this (however embellished this part of Shingen's life may have become over the centuries) are not clear, but were not eased by Harunobu's valuable role in the defeat of Hiraga Genshin in 1536. The events between 1536 and 1540 are entirely murky, with the Imagawa figuring into the controversy, possibly as agitators. It would appear that Nobutora planned to name his second son Nobushige heir, and perhaps ship Harunobu off to the Imagawa clan in Suruga (for adoption?). For years, Harunobu had been under the guardianship of Obu Toramasa, a tough warrior who may well have been at the center of what transpired next. In 1541 Harunobu suddenly rebelled, supported by a great many of his father's retainers. Nobutora submitted with little bloodshed and Harunobu exiled his father to Suruga. In this act he had the aid of the top Takeda retainers, many of whom held personal grudges against Nobutora or at least saw some gain in assisting the young usurper to power. Nobushige, for his part, seems to have borne his brother no ill will, and became a valued retainer. Sources conflict on what the exact events where which led to the replacement of Nobuhide with Harunobu. One version of events is that in the 5th month of 1541, Nobutora and Harunobu went on a campaign together to attack Unno Munetsuna in Shinano province. Unno Munetsuna lost and fled the province, and by the 4th day of the 6th month, they were on their way back to Kai. However, on the 10th day of thier trip back to Kai province, Harunobu suddenly rebelled in a coup supported by his ashigaru and retainers, forcing Nobutora to flee to Suruga Province, and in to the care of his daughter's husband, Imagawa Yoshimoto. This generally follows the Koyogunkan, which essentialy states that Harunobu uncovered a plot by Nobutora to dispose of him and eventually give control of the Takeda clan to his younger brother, Nobushige. According to the Koyogunkan, Harunobu and loyal vassals drove Nobutora out of Kai province into Suruga. Another version of events states that during the 6th month of 1541, Harunobu and Nobutora travelled to Suruga province to visit upon Nobutora's son in law, Imagawa Yoshimoto. Little did Nobutora know, Shingen and Yoshimoto had a secret agreement, and upon arrival, Nobutora was forcibly retired to Suruga castle, and his son Harunobu was given control of the Takeda clan. Although what really happened is not clear, historians seem to be in agreement that Imagawa Yoshimoto had a hand in the removal of Nobutora. Regardless , Harunobu took control of the clan in what is often specifically cited as a 'bloodless coup'.

Harunobu's chief ambition was the subjugation of Shinano but resistance in that quarter would prove fierce. A number of Shinano warlords, including Murakami Yoshikiyo (1510-1573), Ogasawara Nagatoki (1519-1583), Suwa Yorishige (? -1542), and Kiso Yoshiyasu, made a move designed to hopefully nip any further Takeda aggression in the bud. In April 1542 the four daimyo combined forces and marched to the border of Kai, encouraged by news that Harunobu was strengthening his defenses and preparing to make a stand in Fuchu. In fact, Harunobu's activities had been a ruse - far from waiting passively in Kai, Harunobu led his men out and caught the Shinano warriors by surprise, defeating them at Sezawa. Emboldened by the results of Sezawa, Harunobu made a drive into Shinano later that same year, focusing on the territory of the Suwa clan. He first took Uehara in a surprise attack and then moved on to the Suwa headquarters at Kuwahara, located 2 kilometers to the east. Caught completely off-balance, Suwa Yorishige had little choice but to surrender when Harunobu made a promise of safe conduct. Yorishige and his brother were taken to Kai where the Takeda general Itagaki Nobutaka arranged for their deaths; both Suwa were either made to commit suicide or were murdered outright.

Harunobu, with the aid of Yamamoto Kansuke's strategies, further expanded his territory through the defeat of both Tozawa Yorichika (1542) and Takato Yoritsugu of central Shinano (1544-45). The acquisition of Takato Castle was of particular value, as it provided a secure staging area into southern Shinano, as well as a buffer against any southern aggression. In 1544 the Takeda marched into Suruga in support of the Imagawa and faced Hôjô Ujiyasu. No actual fighting occured as a result of this confrontation, and later Harunobu was compelled to arrange for a peace treaty between the Hôjô, Imagawa, and himself due to his wars in Shinano. Over the next decade Harunobu kept up a relentless pressure on the Shinano warlords. Only at Uehara would he be checked, if only briefly. In 1548 Murakami Yoshikiyo, perhaps the most formidable of Harunobu's Shinano enemies, moved on Ueda and defeated the Takeda in a bitter clash which saw the use (on the part of the Murakami) of a number of Chinese arquebuses, the first such weapons ever deployed in a Japanese battle! While the defeat at Uehara left two of his best generals dead, Harunobu rebounded quickly, and by 1552 the Murakami and Ogasawara clans had fled Shinano outright to Echigo.

In 1551, Harunobu had adopted the name Shingen and a monk's habit, adding even more color to this up-and-coming Sengoku warlord, who was already known for his taste for women, penetrating judgment, skill at calligraphy, and wise government. Perhaps all that was now required was a great rival. This came, too, in the form of Uesugi Terutora of Echigo - the famed Kenshin.

According to tradition, the defeated Murakami and Ogasawara presented themselves before Terutora and protested Shingen's aggressions. Terutora, uneasy at Shingen's northern expansion and obligated to the two refugees, took the field. That Murakami figures into the Uesugi's roll even many years later gives some substance to this belief, and, certainly, Terutora had reason to worry about Echigo's borders. In June and October 1553 The Takeda and Uesugi armies clashed near the Kawanakajima plain in northern Shinano, and while the two sides withdrew after a few rounds of inconclusive skirmishing, a legend was born. In total, the Takeda and Uesugi would face each other at the Kawanakajima five times (1554, 1555, 1557, 1561, 1564) and while not exactly the nearly annual staring matches as they are sometimes portrayed, only the 4th (1561) resulted in an all-out contest! In that engagement, both sides suffered heavy losses and while not individually decisive, those losses no doubt slowed both warlords down for some years. In particular, Shingen must have felt the loss of Nobushige and Yamamoto Kansuke, both killed in action at the battle.

Internally, the Takeda suffered two grim moments within the span of five years. In 1560 Shingen had uncovered a plot against him led by his cousin Katanuma Nobumoto, whom he ordered put to death. In 1565, another plot came to light - this one headed by his own son Yoshinobu and Obu Toramasa. Tormasa was made to commit suicide, while Yoshinobu was confined to the Tokoji. Two years later Yoshinobu died, either from illness or, as many believe, because Shingen had forced him to commit suicide. The event left Shingen heirless for the time being and the Takeda retainers uneasy.

By 1564, Shingen had subdued all of Shinano and shifted his attention to Kôzuke, where he took a number of castles from the Uesugi. For the next five years, he limited himself to raids and local conquests (including land grabs in mountainous Hida Province), concentrating on internal affairs. In the 1560's, Shingen's greatest achievement was the Fuji River damming project, the largest and most ambitious of his many innovative domestic endeavors. The benefit of the Fuji River project far-outlived its mastermind, and is ranked as one of the greatest domestic initiatives of the 16th Century!

By 1568, the Takeda army was on the move again, this time to the south against the faltering Imagawa. The daimyô of that clan was Ujizane, the incompetent son of the late Imagawa Yoshimoto (killed in 1560 by Oda Nobunaga), whose political ineptness had already cost the Imagawa their Matsudaira (Tokugawa) vassals and Mikawa province. Years before, Shingen's son Yoshinobu had married Ujizane's sister but after the suicide of the former in 1567, relations between the families had grown sour. It would appear that Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu struck up a deal whereby the two would split up the Imagawa's remaining lands (Tôtômi and Suruga), an agreement that in the event quickly fell through. In addition, the Hôjô of Sagami took a dim view to this shift in the balance of power, and sent troops to defy Shingen, which they did with varying degrees of success for a year or so. In 1569 Shingen responded by invading Sagami and besieging Odawara (the Hôjô's capital). While this effort was quite short-lived (lasting around a week), the Takeda army did manage to crush an attempt at an ambush by the Hôjô at Mimasetoge on their way back to Kai.

Thus, in 1570, the Takeda's lands now included Kai, Shinano, Suruga, and pieces of Kozuke, Tôtômi, and Hida. Shingen, at 49, was something more than a regional power - he was the most important warlord east of Mino, and the one who was in a position to derail Oda Nobunaga's march to national hegemony. Shingen alone possessed the strategic position, the generalship, and the solid retainer band necessary. In 1570, the formidable Hôjô Ujiyasu died and his heir, Ujimasa, quickly made peace with Shingen, an act that might have all but assured the ultimate destruction of Tokugawa Ieyasu had not Shingen died in 1573. In the meantime, the Takeda and Oda, after an abortive diplomatic courtship designed to check the Uesugi, initiated a war of words, possibly with the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, at the center of the storm. Shingen stepped up the pressure against Tokugawa, and in 1572 launched an attack into Tôtômi that resulted in the capture of Futamata. The following January, Shingen returned to the province and enticed Tokugawa Ieyasu to come out and fight. The Battle of Mikatagahara, conducted on 6 January to the north of Hamamatsu, ended in a near-complete defeat for Ieyasu (and the allied Oda troops present). Though often presented as the opening moves in a march on Kyôto, Shingen's intentions were no doubt more conservative. He probably aimed to test the responses of both Ieyasu and Nobunaga and deal the two a defeat if possible. Either way, within days of winning the battle, he recieved news that Asakura Yoshikage had elected not to take the field against Nobunaga at this time. Shingen is reported to have been displeased, and might have counted on Yoshikage - and Asai Nagamasa - to keep Nobunaga preoccupied. This may have played a role in his decision to strike camp and return to Kai - thus granting the bloodied Tokugawa a reprieve.

Unfortunately, time ran out on the man who had come to epitomize the best and, in some ways, the worst qualities of the Sengoku warlord. In 1573, while laying siege to Noda Castle in Mikawa, Shingen was either wounded by a sniper or fell sick (possibly with TB); a point modern scholars are divided on. He died at Kobama in Shinano in May of 1573, to be succeded by his fourth son, Takeda Katsuyori.

Shingen had been a warlord of great domestic skill and competent military leadership. He was a complicated figure, at times utterly cruel. Earlier in his life, he had forced Suwa Yorishige to commit suicide (or had him murdered) after the two warlords had signed a peace treaty, and then proceeded to take Suwa's daughter as a mistress, ignoring the fact that she was techincally his own niece. In 1565, as mentioned above, he ordered his own son, Yoshinobu, confined to a temple and evidently made him commit suicide for treasonous activity, as well as the man who had once been his guardian, Obu Toramasa. His domestic policies demonstrate the duality of Takeda Shingen. On one hand, he kept two iron cauldrons on hand to boil alive certain criminals (a practice considered sufficiently cruel enough to provoke Tokugawa Ieyasu to have the cauldrons destroyed years later!). On the other, he did away with corporal punishment for most minor offences, instituting in it's place a system of fines - an act that earned him considerable praise from the peasants and townspeople of Kai. Shingen's law was not considered overly harsh, and his was one of the few Sengoku Period administrations prior to 1582 to tax most of his subjects evenly (most exempted powerful samurai families and/or religious establishments) and with the option of payment in either gold or rice (a forerunner, in some ways, to the later Kandaka system).

Perhaps the greatest praise paid Shingen was by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself. Following the defeat of Katsuyori in 1582 and the death of Oda Nobunaga, Ieyasu assumed control of Kai, and borrowed freely from Shingen's style and techniques of governance, which he later included in his model for the Tokugawa Shôgunate.

Just prior to his death, Shingen had called from his bed for Yamagata Masakage, one of ablest men, to raise his flags at Seta Bridge (the traditional eastern gate to Kyôto). He then collapsed back into his bed and died soon afterwards. In lieu of a death poem, he left the following words, borrowed from Zen literature, "It is largely left to her own natural bodily perfection, and she has no special need to resort to artificial coloring and powdering to look beautiful."

Sources :

www.en.wikipedia.org

www.giantbomb.com

www.samurai-archives.com

Craterus (370 BC-321 BC), Alexander The Great's General

Alexander 3rd century B.C. Mosaic Depiction of Craterus (right) saving Alexander (left) from a Persian lion, at Sidon in 333. From Pella Museum, in Greece

Craterus was born as the son of a Macedonian nobleman named Alexander, in Orestis (the mountainous 'lake district' between modern Greece and Albania). His career started as commander of one of the phalanx brigades. In this capacity, he was present during the battle near the river Granicus (June 334), where Alexander and Parmenion defeated the Persian satraps of Asia Minor.

He must have been a capable commander (or knew how to deal with his king), because in November 333, during the battle near Issus, he commanded not only his own brigade, but the complete phalanx and all infantry on the left wing. This meant that only Parmenion, the commander of the left wing as a whole, was between him and Alexander.

During the naval attack on Tyre, he commanded the ships on the left wing. Probably, this was because Parmenion was away; there are no indications that Craterus had surpassed his former superior, because during the battle of Gaugamela (1 October 331), Craterus was again Parmenion's inferior. During this battle, he was, again, commander of a phalanx battalion, of the phalanx and all infantry on the left wing.

In the last weeks of 331, Craterus is mentioned in two fights during the invasion of Persia proper (against the Uxians and near the Persian gate). In both cases, he and Alexander are the supreme commanders. The same happened during the pursuit of the Persian king Darius III: Alexander commanded the vanguard, Craterus the main body of the army (early July 330). During the war in Hyrcania, he was sent on a mission against the Tapurians -his first independent command- and when the Macedonian army had reached Aria, he commanded the rearguard during the campaign against the rebel satrap Satibarzanes.

A famous anecdote tells that Craterus loved Alexander as a king (philobasileus) but that Alexander's lover Hephaestion loved him because he was Alexander (philalexandros). This suggests that there was some rivalry -perhaps even hostility- among the Macedonian commanders!

At this stage of Alexander's war in the Achaemenid empire, Craterus' most important rival was the commander of the Companion cavalry, Philotas, the son of Parmenion. When Philotas failed to report a conspiracy he had discovered, Craterus was one of those who accused him. The general feeling among the judges was that Philotas was guilty and ought to be stoned to death, but Craterus, Hephaestion and Coenus believed that Philotas was part of a larger conspiracy, and should first be tortured. As was to be expected, Philotas told many things, but the truth could not be established. In the end, he was executed, and so was his father Parmenion, who was certainly innocent but could no longer be relied upon. It should be pointed out that Craterus' role in the Philotas affair is not mentioned by our best source, Arrian of Nicomedia; we know about it from Quintus Curtius Rufus, who is less reliable - but this does not mean that he is a liar.

In July 329, the Macedonian army marched through Sogdia and reached the river Jaxartes, the modern Syrdar'ya. Seven towns had to be captured, and Craterus took the largest one of these, Cyreschata, which had been founded two centuries before by the founder of the Achaemenid empire, Cyrus the Great. Craterus also fought against the Massagetes, a tribe of nomads that usually lived north of the Jaxartes in modern Kirgizistan, but had probably moved to the south. During this campaign, he commanded a cavalry unit. In 328, he oversaw the construction of military settlements in Margiana, which secured the northern border of Alexander's empire. A similar action took place in the east of Sogdia, where Craterus defeated the Pareitecanians (Persian Paritâkanu, 'mountain people').

In 326, Alexander invaded Gandara, the west of the Punjab (more). Craterus played a role during the campaign in the Swat valley, where he fortified several towns - a job he had already had at hand in Margiana. At this moment, he was Alexander's most important and reliable commander. And yet, we see him falling away from his favor.

A first sign may have been his task during the battle on the Hydaspes river (modern Jhelum). Craterus commanded the rearguard, which stayed on the western bank; Alexander and Coenus did the real fighting, and Craterus' men only crossed the battle during the final stages of the battle. But perhaps, this is no sign of disfavor: after all, Alexander had taken with him only a small army, and the fact that he took Craterus with him may suggest that the latter was still in the king's favor.

But after the battle, Craterus was sent on very honorable missions that kept him far from court. He was ordered to built the cities Nicaea and Bucephala on the site of the battlefield; and during Alexander's campaign to the east, Craterus was to look for supplies. He was not present when the Macedonian army revolted on the banks of the Hyphasis (Beas), and we hear from him again during the march downstream along the rivers Hydaspes, Acesines and Indus. During that campaign, he commanded one of the two armies: it was marching on the west bank. The other army was commanded by Craterus' rival Hephaestion and was campaigning on the east bank. Alexander was on the ships between the two armies.

In June 325, Alexander ordered Craterus' army to go back to the west. (His own army was to reach the Indian Ocean and return partly by ship, partly through the Gedrosian desert.) It was a very important task: it was the first time since the death of Parmenion that Alexander entrusted a general with responsibilities like these. And yet, it also meant that Craterus was far away from court!

Craterus, his army and the elephants crossed the Bolan pass, and passed through Arachosia and Drangiana, and arrived in Carmania, where his army met that of Alexander. During his march, Craterus arrested Ordanes, an otherwise unknown rebel (text).

Alexander's army arrived in Susa in March 323. There were large festivities to celebrate the return from the far east, and Alexander invited his officers to marry Persian princesses. Craterus was married to Amestris, the daughter of Oxyathres, the brother of Darius. Again, this was a very honorable thing: Alexander, Hephaestion and Craterus were the only ones to marry a princess from the Achaemenid family, the royal dynasty of ancient Persia!

But again, he was sent away. This time, he and an officer named Polyperchon were to lead 11,500 veteran soldiers back to Macedonia, where Craterus should, from then on, be the supreme commander of the Macedonian forces in Europe. (A function that had been occupied by Antipater until then.) When the veterans were in Cilicia, they were to build a large navy that Alexander could use to attack Carthage.

Craterus had arrived in Cilicia and was building the fleet, when he heard that in Babylon, Alexander had unexpectedly died (11 June 323). Almost immediately, the Greeks revolted (the Lamian or Hellenic war). In Babylonia, Alexander's generals were discussing the future, but Craterus was not there, and even though it was agreed that he would be one of the two regents of the new king, Alexander's mentally deficient brother Philip Arridaeus, it was easy for his colleague Perdiccas to seize the sole rule. This was the beginning of the era of the Diadochi, the 'successors'.

Craterus may have been angry about the fact that he had been ignored, but it does not show from his acts. (At least not now.) When Antipater requested his help in the Lamian war, he sailed with his Cilician navy to Greece and helped suppressing the revolt (322).

In the last months of 322, Antipater rose in rebellion against Perdiccas, and he was joined by Craterus (who may have resented the fact that he had been ignored), Antigonus (the satrap of Phrygia, who had been expelled from his satrapy by Perdiccas), and Ptolemy (the satrap of Egypt). The men cemented their alliance by marriage: Craterus married Phila, a daughter of Antipater. This was a serious civil war, but is could not be prevented: Perdiccas had become too powerful.

Perdiccas decided to attack Ptolemy, and left the war against Antipater, Craterus and Antigonus Monophthalmus to Eumenes, the new satrap of Phrygia. Eumenes was not an experienced soldier. He had been Alexander's secretary and nothing more. In 321 or 320, he was forced to fight a battle against Craterus, somewhere near the Hellespont. To everybody's surprise, he was not defeated: it was Craterus who was killed! He was killed in battle against Eumenes in Asia Minor when his charging horse fell over him, somewhere near the Hellespont, in 321 BC

Craterus and Phila had one son, Craterus (321-250). This second Craterus ordered the statue of his father and Alexander in a lion hunt that was made by the famous sculptor Lysippus, to be placed in Delphi. The statue is known from a mosaic that was found in the capital of Macedonia, Pella.

Sources :

www.ancienthistory.about.com

www.en.wikipedia.org

www.livius.org

Abu Muslim Al-Khurasani (700-755), The Best Abbasid General

Abu Muslim Abd Rahman ibn Muslim Khorasani or al-Khurasani (Persian: ابومسلم خراسانى, Arabic: أبو مسلم عبد الرحمن بن مسلم الخراساني‎, c. 700 – 755) was a Abbasid general of Persian origin, who led the first major and organized liberal movement against the Umayyad dynasty.

Abu Muslim was born in the city of Balkh in the state of Khorasan. He still after more than 1200 hundred years remain to be a legendary and highly respected revolutionary figure. There are different accounts of his origin and background by different sources but the definite truth is that he was an ethnic Tajik of the state of Khorasan which was dominated by Tajiks at the time. It was during his imprisonment for anti Umayyads activities that he met the Abbasid imam who was also briefly incarcerated in 741. The Abbasid imam were set out to overthrow the Umayyad dynasty so taking advantage of the situation Abu Muslim sided with Abbasids and led to numerous revolts in Khorasan that eventually led to the demise of Umayyad dynasty.

Abu Muslim was an energetic and capable leader who overcome the initial resentment caused among Arabs by his non-Arab origin. He very well took advantage of deep social division and anti Arab, and freedom seeking sentiments in Khorasan. He recruited from various discontented and dispossessed social groups and created a coalition of rebellious Arabs and Khorasanians.

On June 15, 747, Abu Muslim raised the banner of revolution and the revolt quickly spread throughout Khorasan and to other provinces. The revolt eventually led to the overthrow of Umayyad caliph and the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II was defeated and killed in 750. Abu Muslim was the leading factor in defeat of Umayyads and rise of Abbasids. As as-Saffah became the first Abbasid caliph in 749, Abu Muslim was given the governorship of Khorasan in reward for his services. The Abbasids still depended on him on all affairs of the state specially the military and political affairs.

The Abbasids were basically enthroned and to a great extend influenced by Abu Muslim as he was a leading politician, powerful military leader and a very popular figure in many provinces specially among non-Arabs. As Abu Muslims's power and popularity grow the Abbasids became more and more suspicious of him specially that he was inclined to separate Khorasan from the rest of Abbasid states.

Al Mansur the second Abbasids Caliph was in fear of Abu Muslim's ever increasing popularity. After having Abu Muslim quell an uprising by the uncle of Al Mansur, stripped away the governorship of Khorasan from him. When Abu Muslim arrived at his invitation to his court, al Mansur treacherously put him to death and in this way eliminated a potential rival for the throne and the possibility of losing the province of Khorasan.

The unavenged and cowardly murder of Abu Muslim, a legendary hero among Khorasanians, inspired many later uprising against Abbasids.

There was an Arab by the name Sharikh ibn Shaikh in Bukhara, who wanted to spread Shia Islam firmly and oppose anyone against him. Soon, he got the support of several local rulers and many local people.

When this news reached Abu Muslim (Khorasani), he along Ziyad ibn Salih came there to find out what the details, and soon they got involved in a fight. Abu Muslim fought against them for 37 days with no victory, everyday Abu Muslim's side was losing soldiers and several were taken as prisoners. After that, all of a sudden Sharikh ibn Shaikh died, and his supporters started to crumble & fear, but they were still hostile. The rebellion was eventually crushed and most of the Shia supporters were hanged.

Abu Muslim was a major supporter of the Abbasid cause, having met with their Imam Ibrahim ibn Muhammad in Mecca, and was later a personal friend of Abu al-'Abbas Al-Saffah, the future Caliph. He observed the revolt in Kufa in 736 tacitly. With the death of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 743, the Islamic world was launched into civil war. Abu Muslim was sent to Khorasan by the Abbasids initially as a propagandist and then to revolt on their behalf. He took Merv in December 747 (or January 748), defeating the Umayyad governor Nasr ibn Sayyar, as well as Shayban al-Khariji, a Kharijite aspirant to the caliphate. He became the de facto Abbasid governor of Khorasan, and gained fame as a general in the late 740s in defeating the peasant rebellion of Bihafarid, the leader of a syncretic Persian sect that were Mazdaism. Abu Muslim received support in suppressing the rebellion both from purist Muslims and Zoroastrians. In 750, Abu Muslim became leader of the Abbasid army and defeated the Umayyads at Battle of the Zab. Abu Muslim stormed Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, later that year.

His heroic role in the revolution and military skill, along with his conciliatory politics toward Shia, Sunnis, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians, made him extremely popular among the people. Although it appears that Abu al-'Abbas trusted him in general, he was wary of his power, limiting his entourage to 500 men upon his arrival to Iraq on his way to Hajj in 754. Abu al-'Abbas's brother, al-Mansur (r. 754-775), advised al-Saffah on more than one occasion to have Abu Muslim killed, fearing his rising influence and popularity. It seems that this dislike was mutual, with Abu Muslim aspiring to more power and looking down in disdain on al-Mansur, feeling al-Mansur owed Abu Muslim for his position. When the new caliph's uncle, Abdullah ibn Ali rebelled, Abu Muslim was requested by al-Mansur to crush this rebellion, which he did, and Abdullah was given to his nephew as a prisoner. Abdullah was ultimately executed.

Relations deteriorated quickly when al-Mansur sent an agent to inventory the spoils of war, and then appointed Abu Muslim governor of Syria and Egypt, outside his powerbase. After an increasingly acrimonious correspondence between Abu Muslim and al-Mansur, Abu Muslim feared he was going to be killed if he appeared in the presence of the Caliph. He later changed his mind and decided to appear in his presence due to a combination of perceived disobedience, al-Mansur's promise to keep him as governor of Khorasan, and the assurances of some of his close aides, some of whom were bribed by al-Mansur. He went to Iraq to meet with al-Mansur's in Madain in 755. al-Mansur proceeded to enumerate his grievances against Abu Muslim, who kept reminding the Caliph of his efforts to enthrone him. Against al-Muslim were also charges of being a zindiq or heretic. al-Mansur then signaled five of his guards behind a portico to kill him. Abu Muslim's mutilated body was thrown in the river Tigris, and his commanders were bribed to acquiesce to the murder!

His murder was not well-received by the Kurds, particularly not by the residents of Khorasan and Kurdistan, and there was resentment and rebellion among the population over the brutal methods used by al-Mansur. He became a legendary figure for many in Persia, and several Persian heretics started revolts claiming he had not died and would return; the latter included his own propagandist Ishaq al-Turk, the Zoroastrian cleric Sunpadh in Nishapur, the Abu Muslimiyya subsect of the Kaysanites Shia, and al-Muqanna in Khorasan. Even Babak claimed descent from him.

At least three epic romances were written about him:

• Marzubānī, Muḥammad ibn ʻImrān, Akhbār shuʻarāʾ al-Shīʻah
• Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan, Abū Ṭāhir Ṭarsūsī, Abū Muslimʹnāmah
• Zidan, Jorji, Abu Muslim al Khorasani

Sources:

www.en.wikipedia.org

www.pdfbooksfree.blogspot.com