Since the late Muromachi period, it came to take on the character to supervise samurai and command sonae (a troop) and cavalry, and in the Sengoku period (period of warring states) (Japan) it played a leading role in the military system of sengoku daimyo (Japanese territorial lord in the Sengoku period), taking its position between a rank next to sodaisho (commander in chief) and a rank over ashigaru taisho (samurai in command of infantry).
室町時代末期から、侍を預かり備・騎馬隊を指揮する性格を有するようになり、戦国時代_(日本)には総大将の次席、足軽大将の上席にあって、戦国大名の軍制において主要な役割を果たした。