What was formerly a shogunal demesne during the Edo period, Sakai and its peripheral regions were taken over by the Imperial Court from the Tokugawa clan after the demise of the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), but due to the occurrence of the Sakai Incident and so on in 1868, the pace of the creation of a new administrative body needed to be stepped up.
江戸時代には天領であった堺とその周辺は、江戸幕府の崩壊後に徳川氏から朝廷に接収されていたが、慶応4年（明治元年・1868年）に入ると堺事件の発生などもあり、新しい行政組織の設立が急がれる事となった。