Nurhaci

Nurhaci (1559–1626) unified the Jianzhou Jurchens, founded the Later Jin dynasty, and created institutions and military forces that enabled the Qing conquest of China.

Eight Banners: A military and social system that organized Manchu, Mongol, and Han populations into hereditary banner units. Nurhaci formalized the banner system to mobilize and govern his followers.
Jurchen people: A Tungusic-speaking people of northeast Asia whose descendants include the Manchus. Nurhaci’s power grew from Jurchen communities and their competing leaders.
Hong Taiji: Nurhaci’s son and successor, who renamed the Later Jin state the Qing dynasty in 1636. He inherited the state Nurhaci built and completed its transformation into the Qing.
Battle of Sarhu: A 1619 campaign in which Later Jin forces defeated several Ming armies in Manchuria. The victory secured Nurhaci’s position against a major Ming effort to stop his expansion.
Genghis Khan: The Mongol ruler who unified Mongol tribes and founded the Mongol Empire in the early thirteenth century. Both built empires from steppe coalitions, but Nurhaci’s state developed on the Ming frontier.
Jurchen script: A writing system created under Nurhaci by adapting the Mongolian script to write the Jurchen language. It helped administer his growing state and distinguish its written culture.
Ming–Jurchen relations: The changing diplomatic, economic, and military relations between Ming China and Jurchen groups. Ming policies toward the Jurchens formed the political setting for Nurhaci’s early career.
Monggo Jerjer: A consort of Nurhaci and mother of Hong Taiji. Her place in Nurhaci’s household connects family alliances to the succession that followed.
Battle of Ningyuan: A 1626 Ming victory in which Yuan Chonghuan’s forces repelled Nurhaci’s attack on Ningyuan. The defeat checked Nurhaci’s advance and preceded his death later that year.
Yuan dynasty: The Chinese dynasty established by Kublai Khan and ruled by Mongols from 1271 to 1368. It offers an earlier comparison for rule over China by a conquering people from the north.

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