Daimyō Part 3: Tozama, Shinpan and Fudai Daimyō - an Immutable Condition?

Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate (Bakufu) in the early 1600s, the title of daimyō was divided into 3 'classes': 

The first group, whose role will become most crucial in the events of the Bakumatsu (1860s), were the Tozama daimyō, also known as 'outside' daimyō. They are considered outsiders because they (or their ancestors) had fought against the Tokugawa Ieyasu coalition during the Battle of Sekigahara (one of the biggest battles in Japanese history which marked the end of the Sengoku period in 1600). 

The second group were the Fudai daimyō, known as 'hereditary' daimyō. Most Fudai daimyō were already great lords before the Battle of Sekigahara, but the title (and the lands that come with it) was also given by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a reward to his loyal vassals. They were most trusted and filled various higher ranks of the Tokugawa administration (I'll talk about the Rōjū (老中), Wakadoshiyori (若年寄), shoshidai (所司代 ) etc. soon!). 

Occasionally, a family could be raised to or from Fudai status, so this is probably the only status was that was not immuable. 

Finally, came the Shinpan daimyō (also known as kamon daimyō 家門大名). This title was awarded to relatives of the Tokugawa. It was normal for Japanese people to change name as their reached different stages in life, thus Tokugawa Ieyasu was born Matsudaira Takechiyo and later established the Tokugawa clan himself. Now if all Matsudaira were technically 'family', not all Matsudaira daimyō received the status of Shinpan. 

 

Matsudaira Katamori (松平 容保), 9th Shinpan Daimyō of Aizu Domain

There were about 250 daimyō at the end of the Edo period (that's an approximate number), more than half were Fudai and only a few were Shinpan (such as the Owari family (Nagoya domain), Kii family (Wakayama Domain), Aizu Matsudaira family (Aizu-Wakamatsu Domain) and the Mito family (Mito Domain) <- this will be very important in the 1860s, but I'll talk about it next! 

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This was the last part of the Daimyō series, but I'll introduce some individual daimyō of the Bakumatsu era soon(ish)!