Ajirtu

Overview

Ajiertu, simplified as Ajiertu, was a member of the Esuli clan, belonging to the Plain White Banner. His family had lived in the Macha region for generations and submitted to the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. Volume 49 of the official Qing dynasty compilation, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records two different lines regarding the granting of the title of Yunqiwei (a military rank). Macha is the historical ancestral home name preserved in this entry, but its exact location still needs verification.

Ajiertu's son, Moqita, served in the campaign in Zhejiang as a non-official. During the siege of Jinhua, he was the first to scale the city walls and was awarded the title of Yunqiwei. He received three imperial edicts that elevated him to the rank of Third-Class Qingche duwei (hereditary merit rank). Later, due to his military achievements in Shanxi and Guangdong, he was promoted to Second-Class Qingche duwei (hereditary merit rank). Moqita's son, Lapuqi, inherited the title. When his son, Maige, inherited it again, the imperial edict portion was removed, and he inherited the title of Qiduwei (hereditary merit rank). In another branch, Ajiertu's grandson, Keyitu, served as a seventh-rank official in the campaign in Yunnan. He distinguished himself at Huangcaoba and was awarded the title of Yunqiwei. His son, Sulengtai, inherited the title. After Sulengtai's death, his brother's son, Tekejin, succeeded him. The seventh-rank official title is merely a record of rank and cannot be used to specify what military duties Keitu was responsible for at the time. Qiduwei (hereditary merit rank) and Qingche duwei (hereditary merit rank) were hereditary positions that could be inherited, and their sources of promotion through imperial edicts and military merit differed. These two lineages belonged to different entities and should not be combined into one individual achievement of Ajitu. The original inscribed place names and the dates of hereditary succession still need to be verified.