Yishiha

Yishiha (Chinese: 亦失哈; Wade–Giles: Ishiha/I-shih-ha; also Išiqa or IsihaJurchen: i ʃï xa) (fl. 1409–1451) was a Jurchen eunuch in the service of the Ming dynasty emperors who carried out several expeditions down the Songhua and Amur Rivers during the period of Ming rule of Manchuria, and is credited with the construction of the only two Ming dynasty Buddhist temples ever built on the territory of present-day Russia.

It is believed that Yishiha was a Haixi Jurchen by origin, and was captured by the Ming forces in the late 14th century. He worked under two important eunuchs, Wang Zhen and Cao Jixiang. It is speculated by modern historians that he rose to prominence by participating in imperial court politics and serving the Yongle Emperor's concubines of Manchu (Jurchen) origin.

Yishiha's Amur expeditions belong to the same period of the Yongle Emperor's reign (1402–1424) which saw another eunuch admiral, Zheng He, sail across the Indian Ocean, and Chinese ambassadors reach the Timurid Empire's capital Herat (in today's Afghanistan) overland.

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