Warmatrix

Sohei were buddhist warrior monks, located in Japan. They were somewhat similar to the crusader orders of Europe, but never went on anything like a crusade.
Sohei fought off bandits, but also battled among each other. Though the parties were religious factions, the conflicts were not; these were political, often over appointments of abbots. Politics and religion were not clearly separated. Noble families often provided religious leaders and temples interfered with politics.
Initially the conflicts were just disputes, but in the 10th century CE fights became physical and the sohei appeared. As conflicts became greater, so did the number of warrior monks. Some major temples, especially those of Nara and Mount Hiei, developed such large and well-trained sohei armies that they were potent military forces. These sohei were very active in the Gempei War in the 12th century CE, where the samurai gained power. Monks fought on both sides, fiercely, because temples on the losing side would often be burned to the ground. After the Gempei War most monasteries became more peaceful and rebuilt their strength, growing even more powerful than before. But internal conflicts still occasionally flared up and the introduction of Zen buddhism caused new ones.
The preferred weapon of the sohei was the naginata, but they also used bows, swords and a variety of other weapons. Sohei wore armor just like samurai. All wore a white, tan or saffron kimono over their armor and undergarments and walked on straw sandals or wooden clogs. They sometimes wore a white cowl, or a hachimaki, a headband. Most sohei were not monks but lay brethren; they ate meat, did not shave their heads and practiced little religion. Instead they spent their time training for battle. In fighting skill the sohei were almost equals of the samurai. In battle they often carried a mikoshi, a portable shrine, with them. It was forbidden to commit violent acts in the vicinity of it and thus it served as a small oasis of peace on the battlefield. But it was also used as a religious weapon, to frighten adversaries with the anger of the gods.
The most famous sohei was Musashibo Benkei, who lived in the 12th century CE at the time of the Gempei War. He started out as a rough character, more bandit than monk, but later became a yamabushi, a mountain hermit. Like other yamabushi, he was as well versed in combat as in meditation and philosophy. Later still he became the right hand of Minamoto Yoshitsune, the head of the Minamoto clan, inspiring many heroic stories.
The Onin War, starting in 1467 CE, plunged Japan in a civil war, the Sengoku period, that lasted nearly 1½ centuries. In it, farmers, who were fed up with the troubles of war waged by the upper class, recruited mercenaries from buddhists. Most belonged to the Shinshu and Nichiren-shu sects, which propagated very simple religious beliefs. These new-style sohei became the Ikko-ikki, fanatical both in their beliefs and their revolt. Soon some of them detached themselves from the monasteries and even set up an independent realm in the Kaga province for some time. The samurai realized very well the threat that the Ikko-ikki posed to them. In the 16th century CE, warlords like Oda Nobunaga fought ruthless campaigns against these sohei. After Tokugawa Ieyasu re-unified the country, he clamped down as hard on the monks as on his own samurai class. Temples once more became purely religious institutions. The sohei were disbanded, never to return.