was one of the sons of Taira no Kiyomori

Taira no Kiyomori

was a general of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan.After the death of his father Taira no Tadamori in 1153, Kiyomori assumed control of the Taira clan and ambitiously entered the political realm in which he...

, and one of the Taira Clan's chief commanders during the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 of the 12th century of Japan. Following the Battle of Uji

Battle of Uji (1180)

The first battle of Uji is famous and important for having opened the Genpei War.In early 1180, Prince Mochihito, the Minamoto Clan's favored claimant to the Imperial Throne, was chased by Taira forces to the Mii-dera, a temple just outside Kyoto....

 in 1180, Shigehira ordered the burning of Nara

Nara, Nara

is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...

 (see Siege of Nara

Siege of Nara

Following the 1180 Battle of the Uji, in which Minamoto no Yorimasa fought a small Taira army with the help of monks from the Mii-dera and other temples, the victorious Taira, angry at being opposed, decided to assault and burn the Miidera, before moving on to Nara. The Taira were opposed by...

).

After defeating Minamoto no Yukiie

Minamoto no Yukiie

was the brother of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and one of the commanders of the Minamoto forces in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history....

 at the Battle of Sunomatagawa, Shigehira was named commander-in-chief of the Taira forces, and was given 13,000 men.

He was defeated and captured four years later at the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani

Battle of Ichi-no-Tani

' was a Taira fortress at Suma, to the west of present-day Kobe. It sat on a very narrow strip of shore, between mountains on the north, and the sea to the south. This made it quite defensible, but also made it difficult to maneuver troops inside the fortress. Minamoto no Yoshitsune split his force...

, and then turned over to the monks of the Tōdai-ji

Todai-ji

, is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall , the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu . The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the ...

, which he had burned. He was then beheaded by the monks in late 1185.