Sendai Domain The domain ' s capital , and the ruling family ' s castle , were located in what became the modern Sendai City . Ruled for the entirety of its history by the Date clan , the another name of this domain is the It constituted the largest domain in northern Japan , with its official income rating at 625 , 000 " koku " , and one of the largest domains in the entire country , after the Satsuma Domain and Kaga Domain . Its " jitsudaka " , or true income level , is said to have been somewhere between one and two million " koku " . Sendai was the focal point of the Ouetsu Reppan Domei during the Boshin War . Unlike the nearby Aizu domain , Sendai survived the war largely intact , though with a severely reduced income rating . It was disbanded with the other domains in 1873 . Foundation . The Sendai domain was founded in the closing years of the 16th century . When Date Masamune presented himself to Toyotomi Hideyoshi , who was undertaking the Odawara Campaign , he was granted the former fiefs of the Kasai 葛西 and Ōsaki 大崎 families , in return for his hereditary lands of Yonezawa 米沢 , Aizu 会津 , and Sendō 仙道 . Upon entry into his new fief , Masamune took up residence in Iwadeyama Castle , and then started construction on Sendai Castle . The name of Sendai at this time was written 千代 , however , Masamune changed it to 仙臺 ( Later changed to the current 仙台 ） ( " hermit ' s platform , " presumably alluding to Chinese mysticism ) . During the Sekigahara Campaign , the Date clan had been promised an increase in formal domain income to one million koku ; however , as they were fighting with the Uesugi clan for their old lands in the Date district , this did not come to pass . A relief sculpture on the base of Masamune ' s equestrian statue in Sendai Castle commemorates his entry into the city , which was then a small village . Lords of Sendai . A list of the lords of Sendai follows below , in chronological order : Political structure . The Sendai domain , like many other domains across the country , had its political center in its castle town ( what became the modern city of Sendai ) . However , some retainers had their personal landholdings scattered throughout the domain ' s territory , as it was largely contiguous . Their presence provided a secondary , more local level of supervision . Certain of the higher - ranked retainers of Sendai even separated from the main domain and founded their own territories . Mizusawa Domain was one such short - lived subdomain . The Ichinoseki Domain , ruled by the Tamura family , was another subdomain , and survived to the end of the Edo period . Retainer ranks and military structure . There were eleven main ranks into which the retainers of the Sendai domain were divided . Education . The domain ' s school was known as the " Yōkendō " 養賢堂 . A medical school ws established in Sendai in 1822 . Boshin War . In 1868 , the Sendai Domain did not have forces active in the Battle of Toba - Fushimi ; however , it did have a liaison office in Kyoto which kept track of the developing situation . It was approached several times by the nascent imperial government with requests to assist in subduing Aizu . Sendai did provide some cooperation to the new government , and accepted its envoys , under Kujō Michitaka , that spring . However , Date Yoshikuni , the daimyo of Sendai , opposed the harshness shown against Aizu , saying that it was like " a sentence being passed on one who never had a trial . " Despite its efforts at negotiating on behalf of Aizu , Sendai was largely cooperative with the Kyoto government for much of the spring of 1868 . This came to an end in May 1868 , when Sendai men discovered that the Chōshū officer Sera Shūzō ( who had accompanied the imperial delegation ) had written a slanderous letter indicating a desire to describe " all in the north to be enemies , " and to ask for reinforcements to subdue the entire region by armed force . : Naturally , the Sendai men were outraged that they too were to be punished despite their cooperation . A group of these men killed Sera , and pushed ahead with Sendai sponsorship of a northern coalition of domains . This became the Ouetsu Reppan Domei . After Boshin . The Sendai domain was punished for its actions against the imperial army in the Boshin War , though not as severely as Aizu . Sendai ' s holdings were reduced ; it was also made the center of the new government ' s operations in the north . Shiroishi Castle was also taken from Sendai , and given to the Nanbu clan which had been newly moved from Morioka Castle . As with all others , the Sendai domain was abolished in 1873 , by the " haihan chiken " order .