Nara clan
The four tribes of the Hūlun confederation (扈倫四部) – Hada (哈達; Hādá), Ula (烏拉; Wūlā), Hoifa (輝發; Huīfā) and Yehe (葉赫; Yèhè) – were all ruled by clans bearing this name.
The Naras lived in the Haixi area, which encompasses parts of modern-day Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia.
[1] Nonetheless, Nurhaci eventually began his assault against the Naras, and the Hada, Ula and Hoifa tribes soon fell.
Both the Ming soldiers and the Yehe Naras were defeated in subsequent battles, including the Battle of Sarhu, and the Yehe Nara prince Jintaiji was either forced to kill himself or hanged, but not before he allegedly cursed Nurhaci that as long as one of Jintaiji's descendants lived, even a female one, he or she would remember the clan's vendetta and bring down the Aisin Gioros.
The last prince of the Ula tribe Bujantai, who was fighting alongside the Yehe Naras, was captured as well and later killed by Nurhaci's first son, Cuyen.
The Hada and Hoifa clans fell from prominence after Nurhaci's Manchurian conquest, whereas Ula and Yehe survived the defeat and integrated into Qing's Banner aristocracy.
Present-day descendants of the Nara clan generally adopted "Nà" (那) and "Zhào" (趙) as Chinese surnames, to conform to the monosyllabic Han family names.
Others, less commonly, took "Nà" (納 or 訥), "Bái" (白), "Nán" (南), "Liú" (劉), "Sū" (蘇).
Descendants of Yehe Nara primarily chose "Yè" (葉), "Hè" (赫), or "Hé" (何), others took after their Borjigin forebears and used "Bāo" (鮑 or 包) or "Bó" (博).
Upon Wangtai's death (1582), a succession struggle ensued, sapping Hada of its strength and allowing the Yehe Nara and later Nurhaci to eclipse its power.
Fearing the rise of the Jianzhou Jurchens, Narimbulu in turn offered to ally with Menggebulu to defeat Nurhaci.
Severely weakened and defenseless, Urgūdai eventually capitulated and submitted to Nurhaci's rule, becoming the last beile of Hada.
The Ula tribe were mostly traders, buying horses, livestock, and fur from the steppe Mongols and selling them at the Jianzhou plateau on the Liao river basin, the economic center and farmland of the Manchu region.
They supplied numerous high officials and imperial consorts to the Qing court and are among the most prominent Manchu noble houses.
The eldest Ulon took the Chinese surname Zhao and hid out in exile, eventually reintegrating into their Ula kins into the Plain White Banner years later.
The younger Ula (not to be confused with the clan name) was saved by his Aisin Gioro mother and brought back into the Jin fold.
The Hoifa Nara descended from the Ikderi clan (益克得里氏) of the Nimaca tribe (尼瑪察部) from the Amur river banks to the north.
For two generations prior to assuming the Hoifa beile princeship, they had been appointed tributary military commanders (都督) loyal to the Ming court.
Severely weakened and stuck between the ascendant Jianzhou and Yehe states, Baindari tried to play both sides against each other, and relying on the defensible Hoifa Castle for security.
They expanded Yehe's territory through conquest of smaller neighbouring states, consolidated Yehe's powerbase with the construction of two castles, and made peace with Hada; Cinggiyanu married a daughter of Wangtai and Wangtai married Cinggiyanu's younger sister.
With the support of Hada, Cinggiyanu and Yangginu successfully defeated the other sons of Taicu and gained the throne of Yehe themselves.
Princes Bujai and Narimbulu lead the nine-tribe coalition against Nurhaci's Jianzhou forces at the Battle of Mount Gele, which ended in decisive defeat.
They supplied numerous high officials and imperial consorts to the Qing court and are a fixture among the eight great Manchu houses.
This curse was supposedly fulfilled with Empress Dowager Longyu who formally abdicated on the behalf of Puyi leading to the end of the Manchu dynasty.
