The location of Takamatsu was of great strategic importance and allowed Matsudaira Yorishige to monitor the movements of the domains in the western part of Japan on behalf of the shogunate.

This "exchange of heirs" took place several times over the domain's history, resulting in the last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu being a direct descendant of Matsudaira Yorishige.

The han school, Kodokan, produced numerous scholarly figures in the Edo Period, including Hiraga Gennai.

In addition the two domains were at odds during the succession issue over the successor to Shogun Tokugawa Iesada, and the bad relations between Takamatsu and Mito continued for over a hundred years to 1974 when the two cities officially reconciled.

During the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in the Boshin War, Takamatsu Domain supported the shogunate and was initially labelled an "enemy of the court".

[4] As with most domains in the han system, Takamatsu consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.