Oda Nobuhide was born in 1510 in
Owari Province, the eldest son of
Oda Nobusada, the head of the
Oda clan and a
shugodai (deputy
shugo) of the lower Owari area. Nobuhide became head of the Oda clan when Nobusada died in 1538, and became involved in open warfare as he was confronted to the north by
Saitō Dōsan, the
daimyō of
Mino Province, and to the east by
Imagawa Yoshimoto, the
daimyō of
Mikawa,
Suruga, and
Tōtōmi provinces. At certain year, Nobuhide invaded and besiege Ida castle in Mikawa.
Sakai Tadatsugu and
Naitō Nobunari were reportedly sallied out fighting Nobuhide's army to defend the castle. In 1540, Nobuhide attacked and took
Anjō castle, which was held by the
Matsudaira clan. He was assisted by
Mizuno Tadamasa, his son,
Oda Nobuhiro, was installed as the lord of the castle. In 1542, he defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto at
First Battle of Azukizaka. Nobuhide managed to hold his own against his opponents, but was never able to fully unite Owari due to constant internal struggles within Oda clan, which prevented him from achieving a complete victory. In 1543, he donated 4000 kan (The currency of Japan at that time) to the Imperial Court in Kyoto for the repair expenses of the Imperial Palace, while
Imagawa Yoshimoto's donation was 500 kan. With such financial resources, the Oda clan came to possess more power than the
Shiba clan (
Shugo of Owari). Nobuhide's economic policies were steadily passed down to his son and heir, Nobunaga. In 1547, Nobuhide was defeated at the
Battle of Kanōguchi by
Saitō Dōsan. In 1548, Imagawa defeated Nobuhide in the Second Battle of Azukizaka and continued to expand his territory until 1560. In 1549, Nobuhide made peace with Dōsan by arranging a
political marriage between his eldest son,
Oda Nobunaga, and Saitō Dōsan's daughter,
Nōhime. Dōsan supported the marriage which allowed Nobuhide to focus on facing Yoshimoto. In one of his moments of glory, Nobuhide managed to capture
Matsudaira Hirotada's son and heir, Matsudaira Motoyasu (later known as
Tokugawa Ieyasu) as a
hostage, to en route Yoshimoto and was thus able to gain some footholds into Mikawa. Nobuhide died unexpectedly in 1551, and his remains are interred in a little-known alley near
Osu Kannon temple in
Nagoya. ==Succession controversy==