Daikan in the early Edo period were mostly hereditary posts, and small sized gozoku (local ruling families) and jizamurai (local samurai) residing in the local lands were selected to be daikan and taken into the bakufu as retainers.
初期の代官職は世襲である事が多く、在地の小豪族・地侍も選ばれ、幕臣に取り込まれていった。