Maika of the Irgen Gioro Clan

The ancestral company command

Maika was a member of the Irgen Gioro clan of the Plain Red Banner, traditionally associated with Jakumu. The family entered the Manchu polity in its early years. Volume 15 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Eight Banner Manchu Clans* records Maika himself as a former *zuoling*, a commander or captain of a Banner company. His son Luobi also served as a *zuoling*, but the recurrence of this title is not enough to prove that they successively held command of one particular hereditary company.

Service in later generations

Maika's grandson Tasihuli formerly served as a *xieling*, or assistant Banner commander. Among his great-grandsons, Hanchuha combined the appointments of *canling* and *zuoling*. Marchaha was a *yuanwailang*, involved in departmental administration; Haoshang a *fangyu* or Defence Officer; and Shanbu a *bitieshi*, whose work concerned official writing and documentation. These were different classes of office. Hanchuha's combined command does not demonstrate that his ancestor Maika had also held both titles.

Other descendants included a *chengmenwei* associated with guarding a city gate, a *xiaoqixiao* and a *jiansheng*. The last was an educational qualification rather than a government appointment. Where the city, bureau or school is not supplied, it should not be inferred.

Unresolved succession questions

The record does not reconstruct every intermediate father or prove that the positions named in different generations were formally inherited. Phrases denoting currently serving officials describe the time of compilation only. The geographical identification of Jakumu, the legal basis of the original company appointment and the later terms of service remain matters for archival verification.