Maeda Toshinaga

Maeda Toshinaga (前田 利長; February 15, 1562 – June 27, 1614) was a Sengoku period Japanese samurai and the second early-Edo period daimyō of Kaga Domain in the Hokuriku region of Japan, and the 3rd hereditary chieftain of the Maeda clan. He was the eldest son of Maeda Toshiie. His childhood name was "Inuchiyo" (犬千代).

Biography

Toshinaga was born in what is now part of the city of Nagoya in Owari Province, where his father was in the service of Oda Nobunaga In 1581, he married one of Oda Nobunaga's daughters, Ei-hime, who was only six years old at the time. Nobunaga was assassinated the following year at the Honnō-ji Incident.

In 1583, he assisted his father at the Battle of Shizugatake and after the death of Shibata Katsuie, he swore fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was awarded a 40,000 koku fief in Kaga Province.

In 1585, he played a key role in Hideyoshi's campaign against Sassa Narimasa, and his holdings were greatly expanded to 320,000 koku across Kaga and Etchū Provinces. He led some 3,000 men in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's during the Kyūshū Campaign (1587) and the Siege of Odawara (1590).

In 1598, he received the 267,000 koku Kanazawa holdings of his father, Maeda Toshiie. Toshiie died the following year 1599, and Hosokawa Tadaoki convinced Toshinaga to support Tokugawa Ieyasu over Ishida Mitsunari and Toyotomi Hideyori.