In the Muromachi period, the administrators of lands under direct control of bakufu (the shogunate) were called daikan, and they were distinguished from shugodai who performed the deputy role of shugo, and from koshugodai who were deputies of shugodai (See Shugodai for details).
室町時代においては幕府直轄領の管理者が代官と称され、守護の代官たる守護代やその代官たる小守護代などとは区別された（守護代の項目参照）。