Fudai

Origins

Fudai daimyōs originated from the families and clans who had served the prominent Tokugawa clan before its rise to national primacy during the Azuchi–Momoyama period in the late Sengoku period, including the Honda, Sakai, Sakakibara, Ii, Itakura, and Mizuno clans. A number of other clans which were not retainers of the Tokugawa before the Azuchi–Momoyama period also came to be counted as fudai, such as the Ogasawara and the Doi. Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, Sakai Tadatsugu, and Ii Naomasa — Tokugawa Ieyasu's "Four Great Generals" — were all pre-Edo periodfudai who went on to become fudai daimyōs. In addition, some branches of the Matsudaira clan, from which the Tokugawa clan originated, were classed as fudai while allowed to retain the Matsudaira name.