Han
Han () they were the feudi of i feudali clans of that they existed for all and for the first years of . The number of han varied; typically in the Edo period they existed approximately 300 han. The greater part was guides to you from one daimyo and they had a value of 10.000 koku or more. The daimyo they swore fidelity to shogun. To the times a daimyo powerful a its man to governing of a dominion of the value of beyond 10 name.000 koku. Also the dominions of these men were to times call to you han, even if they were not daimyo.
Richest it was Kaga han of the value of 1 million koku. It was situated in provinces of Kaga, Etchu and Famous.
In the July all the han came melted in order to form prefetture.
Comparison with the province
The province they came colonized in was previous from the imperial court. They were in origin an administrative division of the government centers them. During Muromachi Period bakufu the government name one shugo daimyo for every province leaving some it. The greater part of the shugo daimyo declined in being able to the i and end of period Muromachi sengoku daimyo they replaced them. The greater part of i sengoku daimyo they were samurai of inferior rank of shugo daimyo, although some shugo daimyo like Shimazu in Satsuma it survived until .
In the Edo period the province they remained like geographic names. In contrast the han they were local a governmental structure and therefore it described the area on which every local government could exercise its power. The system of the han came determined from the shogunato Tokugawa, their dimension could vary, but second the definition of the Bakufu every Tokugawa han controlled a dominion from the which at least 10.000 koku harvests came every year; a daimyo it was defined like the head of a han and served the shogun directly. If a vassallo of a daimyo it possessed a feudo of the value of 10.000 koku it did not serve however the Shogun, but the daimyo - therefore for definition it was not a daimyo. However the government and the dominion of these samurai however were called han for convenience.
When Shogunato Tokugawa the system fell han remained in use for little years during Meiji Period, but it came subsequently replaced with the system of prefetture in use still today.
Relations between Han and Bakufu
The structures of a han and the shogunato one were similar mainly because Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the bakufu, maintained the structure goverantiva that its ancestors had developed when they were still small daimyo local of the province of Mikawa. Some daimyo, especially those whose antenanti had been vassalli of the Shogun were the getlteman of han and also bureaucrats of the bakufu. The greater part of they governed feudi estimated from one to 12 koku. Others daimyo did not have load permanent in the bakufu, but they came assigns to it to you loaded temporary.
Every daimyo it served the Shogun and it received the right to govern from the Shogunato. The heir of every daimyo had to be accepted in advance payment from the shogunato one. When the son (of adopted blood or) of a daimyo came accepted like heir of its father, had to o to the castle of Chiyoda to Edo, the castle of the Shogun, and to meet the Shogun in order to receive its acknowledgment and the right to happen. If this procedure came ignored, the succession came cancelled from the Shogunato and the han it came abolished with a practical one said toritsubushi ("to discard" in ).
Although every daimyo he was vassallo a juror of the Shogun their relations varied. The every relation between han and the bakufu came determined and influenced from the relation between the founder of han and the shogunato one or with the ancestors of the Tokugawa. Rozzamente speaking was three classifications calls:
- Shinpan: relatives of the Tokugawa
- Fudai: it allies to you and vassalli of the Tokugawa before It battles of Sekigahara
- Tozama that they have recognized the Tokugawa after the battle of Sekigahara.
An other classification based on the dimension of the han existed also.
Rank of the han
The han they varied in dimensions and therefore in unearned income. Every han it was classified from the shogunato one mainly based on the dimension, but the classification was determined also from their political value and han and the daimyo they had to be behaved conformente to their class. To some han it came attributed the rank greater "Lord provincial", although theirs han were small. In some situations this classification to a greater level divenne a problem financial.
Largest han they occupied dominions greater than a province and theirs daimyo were call to you kokushu, lord provincial.
To the daimyo of inferior rank it was forbidden to construct a castle. In the first years of the Edo period the Shogunato imposed politics one province, a castle, but subsequently more castles for province were constructed.
