Who they were
Born in 1543 as a Mikawa lord’s son, he spent his childhood as a hostage of the Imagawa. He allied with Oda Nobunaga in 1562 and survived a crushing defeat by Takeda Shingen at Mikatagahara in 1573.
Under Toyotomi Hideyoshi he was transferred to the Kanto in 1590, making Edo his base.
What they did
He won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and was appointed shogun in 1603. He abdicated to his son Hidetada in 1605 but kept ruling as “retired shogun” from Sunpu.
He destroyed the Toyotomi at the Osaka sieges (1614–15) and issued the buke shohatto, the laws for warrior houses, in 1615.
Legacy
He died in 1616 and was enshrined at Nikko as the deity Tosho Daigongen. Famed for patience — the man who outwaited everyone — he left the roughly 260-year Tokugawa peace.