The Nabeshima clan were originally vassals of the
Ryūzōji clan who controlled northern Kyushu in the
Muromachi period. However,
Ryūzōji Takanobu was killed in the
Battle of Okitanawate with the
Shimazu and
Arima clans in 1584, and
Nabeshima Naoshige became the guardian of Takanobu's young heir,
Ryūzōji Takafusa. Six years later,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi granted approval for Nabeshima to overthrow Ryūzōji and seize the territory for his own lineage. Nabeshima supported
Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in the 1590s, and fought in the Western Army, against the
Tokugawa clan in the
Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. During this battle, however, he turned against and captured Western Army general
Tachibana Muneshige, earning some degree of favor from
Tokugawa Ieyasu and being allowed to keep his fief.
Edo period The Nabeshima were allotted a
kokudaka of 357,000
koku, which remained constant throughout the Tokugawa period. The Tokugawa shogunate granted the Nabeshima the ceremonial use of the "Matsudaira" surname and one
kanji from the shogun's given name to all the successive
daimyō, starting with Katsushige's eldest son, Nabeshima Tadanao. The domain's location close to
Korea and far from
Edo, the shogunal capital, along with its trade connections, brought significant foreign influence to the area. The area was a center for ceramic production and techniques as a result of its connections with Korea, becoming famous for its
Imari porcelain which was a significant
export good to Europe. However, although the nominal
kokudaka of the domain was 357,000
koku, the actual
kokudaka of the
daimyō was only 60,000
koku, as the Nabeshima clan had established three sub-domains headed by cadet branches of the clan as insurance to ensure succession:
Hasunoike Domain,
Ogi Domain and
Kashima Domain. In additional, large
hatamoto stipends were granted to four branch families of Nabeshima (Shiraishi, Kawakubo, Murata, Kubota), and four branch families of the Ryūzōji (Taku, Takeo, Isahaya, Suko). Remnants of the Ryūzōji continued to surface from time to time, however, and occasionally threatened the Nabeshima grip on power. Although members of the Ryūzōji clan ofter held high positions in domain affairs, efforts by the Ryūzōji to obtain a restoration of their status as an independent domain were denied the shogunate. The area also bore a considerable
Kirishitan population, which erupted in protest in the famous
Shimabara Rebellion (1637–8). Because the Saga Domain was close to Nagasaki, in 1631, the Shogunate ordered the domain to take turns providing troops to guard Nagasaki, exchanging on a yearly basis with
Fukuoka Domain. In exchange, the domain was granted a reduction in its
sankin kotai obligation, reducing the required attendance in
Edo to about three months out of two years, instead of the usual two years. This was still a considerable expense, and at times the domain sought to lessen its losses by reducing the number of samurai it sent to defend the port. In 1808, during the
Napoleonic Wars, the
Phaeton incident occurred, in which a British frigate invaded Nagasaki and demanded the handover of the Dutch trading post. However, as Saga Domain had reduced its security personnel without permission (only 100 Saga samurai were present to deal with the situation, rather than the obligatory one thousand), the shogunate was forced to submit to the demands of the British ship, and scolded Saga harshly for its failure to fulfill its obligations. The situation surrounding the domain worsened with the death toll of the
Siebold typhoon in 1828, which killed nearly 10,000 people, and the domain's finances on the brink of collapse.
Around the Open Bay and the end of Shogunate The 10th
daimyō,
Nabeshima Naomasa (Kansō) to be informed about the
Opium Wars in China, visited the Dutch warship Palembang and reaffirmed the need for Western military technology. He decided to reform the domain's administration and to adopt Western technology. In particular, he carried out extensive restructuring, reducing the number of officials by two-fifths, and devoted himself to protecting and nurturing farmers, as well as to developing and trading in industries such as pottery, tea, and coal, which improved the domain's finances. He also established organizations for the research of Western technologies, including steel refining, steam engines and artillery, and turned the domain's efforts towards these pursuits, making it one of the most modern domains in this period. Saga thus began constructing operations for the first Japanese iron refinery in 1849, and made the first use of
reverberatory furnaces three years later at Tafuse by the
Saga Castle in 1852. Then the domain set up , the research institute for industrial technology on the site. In 1853, Russian Admiral
Yevfimy Putyatin arrived in Nagasaki harbor, and provided the first demonstration of a steam locomotive to the Japanese.
Ishiguro Hirotsugu,
Nakamura Kisuke, and
Tanaka Hisashige were among the first Japanese engineers, who attempted to manufacture their own steam locomotives and steamships. They built up the second
reverberatory furnace. noted by Naomitsu Nabeshima, the grand-children of
Naomasa. When the shogunate relaxed the restrictions on the construction of large ships, an order was placed with the Dutch. Saga saw the revitalization of Japan's shipbuilding industry, and the launching of the first Japanese
steamship, the
Ryōfūmaru. The
Nagasaki Naval Training Center was established in 1855, its first students coming from Saga. Then it created the
Mietsu Naval Dock in 1858 on the inlet of the north of the
Ariake Sea. By 1866, the incorporation of British
Armstrong Whitworth cannon made the ships at Nagasaki into the first Japanese Western-style ("modern") navy. The defense batteries at
Shinagawa were also supplied by cannon from Saga. The domain also exhibited at the
Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris. Largely responsible for Japan's technological and military advancement, and holding much of the fruits of those labors, Saga attracted the attention of the shogunate, which kept a close eye on the domain. Saga refused to take a clear stance on the political situation and prohibited its samurai from interacting with samurai from other domains. However, in late 1867, it chose to side with
Tosa,
Satsuma, and
Chōshū against the shogunate. , the last
daimyo of Saga Domain gun used by troops of the Saga Domain at the
Battle of Ueno against the Shogunate's
Shōgitai. In the
Boshin War, Saga was assigned the vanguard of the forces advancing northward on the Hokuriku highway, and samurai from the domain fought the shogunate at the
Battle of Ueno and in other clashes. As a result, the new Meiji government which emerged afterwards featured a number of figures from Saga, including
Etō Shinpei,
Ōkuma Shigenobu,
Ōki Takatō, and
Sano Tsunetami. The
feudal domains were abolished in 1871, and the Nabeshima clan given the title "marquis" (
kōshaku) under the new
kazoku peerage system. The territory of the domain was split between
Saga and
Nagasaki Prefectures. Disgruntled former samurai of the domain, disillusioned with the Meiji government over the
disputes over invading Korea and their loss of status and stipends, launched the
Saga Rebellion in 1874, which was quickly suppressed. ==Holdings at the end of the Edo period==