| The ''jitô'' were local officials appointed by the [[government of the Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryukyuan court]] to serve as district administrators, after the ''[[anji]]'' (local lords) were removed from their lands by King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] in the early 16th century. | | The ''jitô'' were local officials appointed by the [[government of the Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryukyuan court]] to serve as district administrators, after the ''[[anji]]'' (local lords) were removed from their lands by King [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]] in the early 16th century. |
− | There were several ranks of ''jitô'': those assigned to an entire ''[[magiri]]'' (district) were known as ''anji-jitô'', while those assigned to smaller territories within a ''magiri'' were known as ''waki-jitô''. The ''jitô'' resided in [[Shuri|the capital]] as did the ''anji'', appointing officials known as ''[[jitodai|jitôdai]]'' to administer their lands for them. While the ''anji-jito'', also known as ''sôjitô'', earned a stipend from the court in addition to tax revenues from their fief, the ''waki-jitô'' relied solely on revenues from the fief.<ref>Marco Tinello, “The Ryukyuan Embassies to Edo seen from the Shuri Royal Government’s Perspective,” in Rosa Caroli (ed.), Imagined Okinawa: Challenge from Time and Space, Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (2015), p178.</ref> | + | There were several ranks of ''jitô'': those assigned to an entire ''[[magiri]]'' (district) were known as ''anji-jitô'', while those assigned to smaller territories within a ''magiri'' were known as ''waki-jitô''. The ''jitô'' resided in [[Shuri|the capital]] as did the ''anji'', appointing officials known as ''[[jitodai|jitôdai]]'' to administer their lands for them. While the ''anji-jito'', also known as ''sôjitô'', earned a stipend from the court in addition to tax revenues from their fief, the ''waki-jitô'' relied solely on revenues from the fief.<ref>Marco Tinello, “The Ryukyuan Embassies to Edo seen from the Shuri Royal Government’s Perspective,” in Rosa Caroli (ed.), ''Imagined Okinawa: Challenge from Time and Space'', Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (2015), 178.</ref> |