At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Kikkawa Hiroie secretly communicated with Tokugawa Ieyasu, providing the Eastern Army with vital intelligence and blocked the movement of Mōri clan forces, preventing them from entering into combat.

Despite this, after the battle, Ieyasu was determined to destroy the Mōri clan, as they controlled ten provinces in western Japan.

Kikkawa Hironori, the fourth daimyō, engaged in extensive land reclamation projects and under his management, the domain became very prosperous.

Under the seventh daimyō, an unsuccessful effort to obtain official recognition as an independent domain failed, and finances deteriorated due to poor harvests.

Conditions fluctuated in the late Edo period, but the 10th daimyō, Kikkawa Yoshikawa succeeded in financial reforms by carrying out land reclamation projects.

In the early Bakumatsu period, although there were a number of Sonnō jōi incidents, the domain initially supported the shogunate.