Fudai Daimyo - in The Edo Period

In The Edo Period

As Tokugawa Ieyasu rose to power in the 16th century, his domains increased, and as his domains increased, he began to hand out landholdings to his vassals, so that one by one, many of them became daimyo. This was the birth of the fudai daimyo class. In contrast to the tozama, the fudai typically ruled small fiefs, many in strategic locations along the principal roads or in the Kantō region near the headquarters of the shogunate at Edo. High posts in the shogunate, such as Rōjū and wakadoshiyori, normally went to fudai. In addition, the post of Kyoto Shoshidai almost always went to a fudai daimyo.

Other clans which were not pre-Azuchi-Momoyama era retainers of the Tokugawa also came to be counted as fudai: the Ogasawara and Doi are among them.

Occasionally, a family could be raised to or from fudai status. For instance, the Matsudaira clan to which Matsudaira Sadanobu belonged went from being a fudai house to being a recognized relative of the Tokugawa family. Also, a hatamoto who had an increase in income which raised his income level over 10,000 koku became a fudai daimyo.