Since ancient times, authorities have regarded Tanba as an important area due to its geographic situation as one of the entrances to Kyoto, so Tanba was, just like Harima and Yamato provinces, under control of the Rokuhara Tandai in the Kamakura period and the Kyoto Shoshidai in the Edo period.
丹波国は古くより京都の出入口に当たる地理的条件から各時代の権力者から重要視され、播磨や大和などと並んで鎌倉時代の六波羅探題や江戸時代の京都所司代などの支配を受けた。