尼堪 Níkān

Son: Nikan, Prince Jingjinzhuang of the First Rank

Nikan, Prince Jingjinzhuang of the First Rank, was the third son of Chuying. In the Tianming years he won merit in the campaigns against the Duoluote, Dongkui and other tribes. In the ninth year of Tiancong, when the army attacked the Ming, he followed Duoduo in leading a flanking force into the borders of Jinzhou and Ningyuan to tie down the Ming troops. In the first year of Chongde he was made Beizi. When the emperor attacked Korea, he followed Duoduo in pursuing Li Zong, King of Korea, to the mountain fortress of Nanhan and wiped out his relieving troops. In the fourth year, when the emperor attacked the Ming, he followed Ajige and others in attacking Tashan and Lianshan. In the seventh year he garrisoned Jinzhou. Edit

In the fourth month of the first year of Shunzhi he followed Duo'ergun through the Shanhai Pass and defeated Li Zicheng, then followed Ajige in pursuit as far as Qingdu, and was raised to Beile. He again followed Duoduo, leading troops from Mengjin to Shan Department, and broke the enemy. In the second year, when the army camped at the Tong Pass, Li Zicheng's general Liu Fangliang came out to resist; Nikan and Tulai, zhangjing of the Bayala standard, attacked him from both sides and captured more than three hundred horses. With the Beizi Shangshan he also defeated the enemy's cavalry, made for Guide and settled Henan; an edict thanked him for his labours and gave him a bow. In the fifth month he followed Duoduo in taking the Ming southern capital, and pursued and captured Yousong, the Ming Prince of Fu. He also attacked Jiangyin, fought hard and took it. When the army returned he was given two hundred taels of gold, fifteen thousand taels of silver, a saddle and five horses. Edit

In the third year he followed Haoge on the western campaign. At that time He Zhen was harrying Hanzhong, and Erzhihu and Sun Shoufa were harrying Xing'an; bandits were rising everywhere like swarming bees. Nikan camped at Xi'an and advanced by the plank roads; He Zhen came out to resist at the Jitou Pass, and Nikan attacked and destroyed him, galloped to Hanzhong and trampled his camps. The rebels fled to Xixiang; he attacked them at Chuhu and pursued them to Hanyin; Erzhihu fled to Sichuan and Sun Shoufa fled to Yueke stockade. In the eleventh month he again followed Haoge into Sichuan, and Zhang Xianzhong was beheaded at Xichong. He and the Beizi Mandahai divided their forces and settled Zunyi, Kuizhou, Mao Department, Longchang, Fushun, Neijiang and Ziyang, and Sichuan was pacified. In the fifth year the army returned. With Ajige he put down the local bandits of Tianjin and was raised to Prince Jingjin of the Second Rank. In the sixth year he was made Grand General Who Pacifies the West to punish the rebel general Jiang Xiang, and defeated the enemy again and again. He broke Jiang Hui, whom Jiang Xiang had made Governor, and Jiang Hui's general Luo Yingtan surrendered with his troops. Duo'ergun went to Datong to win over Jiang Xiang and, acting on imperial authority, raised Nikan to Prince of the First Rank. Soon afterwards Nikan besieged Datong from Zuowei; Jiang Xiang's general Yang Zhenwei and others beheaded Jiang Xiang and surrendered, and the army returned. In the seventh year, with Mandahai, Prince Xun of the First Rank, and Boluo, Prince Duanchong of the First Rank, he managed the affairs of the Six Ministries. Duo'ergun sent the Minister Ahanikan to meet the younger brother of the King of Korea; Ahanikan asked Nikan's leave to send the zhangjing En Guotai in his place. When this came to light, Nikan was found guilty of covering it up and was demoted to Prince of the Second Rank. In the eighth year he was again made Prince of the First Rank. Then, found guilty of failing to report that Ajige was secretly storing weapons, he was demoted to Prince of the Second Rank. Soon afterwards he was put in charge of the Ministry of Rites. Some months later he was again restored to Prince of the First Rank and put in charge of the Imperial Clan Court. Edit

When Sun Kewang and others invaded Hunan, Nikan was made Grand General Who Settles Distant Lands and led troops to punish them. As he was leaving, he was given the emperor's own clothing, a sword, and a saddled horse, and the emperor saw him off in person at the Southern Park. Li Dingguo took Guilin, and an edict ordered Nikan into Guangxi to destroy the rebels. In the eleventh month the army camped at Xiangtan, and the Ming general Ma Jinzhong and others fled. The army made for Hengzhou; the gabushixian [vanguard scout] troops attacked the enemy in Hengshan County and defeated eighteen hundred enemy troops. Nikan led the troops forward by night and, marching at double speed, reached Hengzhou. At dawn the next day, before the army had formed its lines, more than forty thousand of the enemy suddenly arrived. Nikan led his units forward to attack, routed them utterly, pursued the fleeing enemy for more than twenty li, and captured four elephants and over eight hundred horses. The enemy had laid an ambush in the woods; the ambush was sprung on the march, and the army wanted to retreat. Nikan said, "Our army never retreats from bandits. I am of the imperial clan; if I retreat, with what face can I go home?" He charged boldly straight in. The enemy surrounded him several ranks deep and the army lost its way. Nikan led his generals charging in every direction; he sank into a bog, his arrows ran out, he drew his sword and fought on, and when his strength was spent he died on the field. In the tenth year his coffin came home, and court was suspended for three days. Princes of the First Rank and those below were ordered to meet it outside the city, and he was given a posthumous name. For this battle, the generals who had gone on the campaign with him were all judged guilty of bringing disaster on the army. Edit

His second son Nisiha inherited. In the sixteenth year of Shunzhi, Nikan was posthumously judged guilty of taking property left by Duo'ergun after his death, and of failing to impeach the Minister Tantai for his arrogance and lawlessness; because he had died in battle, the rank was kept. In the seventeenth year Nisiha died and was given the posthumous name Dao. His first son Lanbu inherited as Beile. Shengzu, mindful that Nikan had died in battle as a Prince of the First Rank, raised Lanbu to Prince of the Second Rank under the original title. In the seventh year he was raised to Prince of the First Rank. Lanbu had married the daughter of Aobai; in the eighth year, when Aobai was found guilty, Lanbu was demoted to Duke Who Guards the State. In the thirteenth year he followed Shangshan against Wu Sangui in Hunan. In the seventeenth year he died with the army. In the nineteenth year he was posthumously found guilty of shrinking from battle, and his rank was taken away. His son Laishi inherited as Duke Who Assists the State. In the forty-third year of Qianlong, Gaozong, because Nikan's merit was outstanding and he had given his life fighting hard, raised the rank to Duke Who Guards the State, to be inherited for ever. Edit