Jinan was established in early Western Han dynasty under the
Qi Kingdom of
Liu Fei, son of
Emperor Gaozu. In 165 BC, Liu Ze (劉則), the grandson of Fei and reigning King of Qi, died without issue and the Han court divided the kingdom among the sons of Fei, and Jinan became a short-lived principality ruled by
Liu Piguang. During the
Rebellion of the Seven States, Piguang was killed, and Jinan was converted to a commandery. In late Western Han dynasty, the commandery consisted of 14 counties and marquessates: Dongpingling (東平陵),
Zouping (鄒平), Tai (臺), Liangzou (梁鄒), Tugu (土鼓), Yuling (於陵), Yangqiu (陽丘), Banyang (般陽), Jian (菅), Zhaoyang (朝陽),
Licheng (歷城), Xiao (猇), Zhu (著) and Yicheng (宜成). The population in 2 AD was 642,884, in 140,761 households. For much of Eastern Han, Jinan was a nominal kingdom/principality and served as the fief of various members of the imperial clan, with the first being Liu Kang, son of
Emperor Guangwu, in 39 AD. In
Cao Wei dynasty, the Prince of Jinan was Cao Kai (曹楷), a grandson of
Cao Cao and a son of
Cao Zhang, Prince of Rencheng. Jinan reverted to a commandery after the foundation of
Western Jin. In 140 AD, the territory consisted of 10 counties, including Dongpingling, Zhu, Yuling, Tai, Jian, Tugu, Liangzou, Zouping, Dongzhaoyang (東朝陽) and Licheng. The population in 140 AD was 453,308, in 78,544 households. The commandery was conquered by
Northern Wei in early
Northern and Southern Dynasties period, during
Emperor Ming of Song's reign. while the
Book of Wei recorded a population of 68,820 in 20,017 households. The commandery was abolished in early
Sui dynasty. ==Princes of Jinan==