Certain self-sustained politics, economy and society were well organized inside Han within a framework of the authority of the seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") and the Edo bakufu, so the inside of Han functioned like a small country.
藩の内側は征夷大将軍と江戸幕府の権威・権力の枠の内側で一定の自立した政治・経済・社会のまとまりを持ち、小さな国家のように機能した。