Once they were dispossessed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the area became part of the holdings of Gamō Ujisato of Aizu.
Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Gamo were relocated to Iyo Province in Shikoku, and Aizu was given to Katō Yoshiaki, who split off the Miharu area as a separate 30,000 koku domain for his younger son Katō Akitoki in 1627.
On July 26, 1868, through the intercession of Kōno Hironaka, a local samurai in the service of the imperial forces, Miharu Domain switched sides to the Satchō Alliance.
Akita Akisue remained a domain governor until the abolition of the han system in July 1871.
[2] Unlike most domains in the han system, which consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields,[3][4] Miharu Domain was a compact and continuous holding.
He was the eldest son of Akita Sanesue, and fought as a soldier in the Tokugawa forces at the 1614 Siege of Osaka.
His father was exiled to Izu Province in 1630 due to discontent with the policies of Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu, and Toshisue was appointed daimyō of Shishido Domain in 1631.
In 1644, the Tokugawa shogunate ordered the Akita clan to relocate to Miharu Domain with an increase in kokudaka to 55,000 koku.
He died in 1649 while on duty at Osaka Castle and his grave is at the temple of Kōken-in in Miharu.
He was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Ietsuna in 1658, and became daimyō on his father's death in 1676.
Terusue greatly improved the finances of the domain by sponsoring horse breeding as a local industry.
However, the death of his son and heir Norisue in 1715 greatly disturbed him, and he withdraw from all of the affairs of the domain, turning power over to a retainer, Araki Takamura.
He died in 1720 and his designation of Araki's son as his successor resulted in an O-Ie Sōdō.
He was adopted by Akita Terusue in 1715 and was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Ietsugu the same year.
In 1737 he was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune, who asked that he join his personal guard.
In 1750, he was adopted as heir by his brother Nobusue, and was received by Shōgun Tokugawa Ieshige the same year.
In 1784, the domain was beset by crop failure and famine and was forced to borrow 2000 ryō from the shogunate.
He was the second son of Akita Yoshisue, and was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Ienari in 1792.
The domain was subsequently ignored by both sides in the conflict, and Miharu samurai Kōno Hironaka organised a surrender to the new Meiji government Akita Akisue was confirmed as domain governor under the new administration from 1868 to the abolition of the han system in 1871.
In 1884, he received the kazoku peerage title of viscount (shishaku) and from 1890 to 1897 served as a member of the House of Peers.