Akechi clan

The Akechi clan (明智氏, Akechi-shi) is a branch of the Toki clan, which is descended from the Seiwa Genji. The Akechi clan thrived around the later part of the Sengoku period of the 16th century. The Akechi became the head (soryo) of the Toki clan after the Toki fell to the Saitō clan in 1540. The Akechi refused to bend to the rule of Saitō Yoshitatsu who retaliated by attacking Nagayama castle. Akechi Mitsuhide then served the shoguns Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Ashikaga Yoshiaki. After introducing Ashikaga Yoshiaki to Oda Nobunaga, Mitsuhide became a powerful general under Nobunaga. However, in 1582, Mitsuhide betrayed Nobunaga at the temple of Honnō-ji and forced him to commit seppuku. The Akechi clan gained more power thanks to the collapse of the Oda clan. Later that same year, Akechi Mitsuhide was slain at the Battle of Yamazaki by the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi while his oldest son took his own life, a mere twelve days after the incident at Honnō-ji. The Akechi clan quickly fell from prominence after that.