Final answer:
Between 1100 CE and 1850 CE, the role of samurai evolved from regional military protectors to Japan's ruling governors during the Heian period, to a bureaucratic class during the Edo period, before being disbanded and assimilated into other professions following the Meiji Restoration.
Step-by-step explanation:
Changes in the Role of the Samurai from 1100 CE to 1850 CE
The samurai played a significant role in Japan's military and political history, seeing a dramatic transformation in their duties and societal status between 1100 CE and 1850 CE. Initially, as the imperial court weakened during the Heian period, provincial families took up arms, laying the groundwork for the rise of these regional warlords. By the 12th century, the samurai under military shoguns had become Japan's ruling military aristocracy, exercising real political power while the emperor remained largely a figurehead.
During the Muromachi and Momoyama periods, which lasted from 1450 to 1600, the samurai's influence continued as they supported regional lords and adhered to the bushido code. The Edo period (1615-1868) brought relative peace and a shift in the samurai's function, turning them into a bureaucratic and administrative class. They contributed to the development of Japanese visual culture and continued to act as stewards of law and order within the new Tokugawa shogunate's stable society.
However, this era of samurai dominance was effectively ended by the Meiji Restoration in the mid-19th century, when the samurai class was dissolved, their privileges removed, and a new conscript army was formed. Modernization and the establishment of a new government structure reflecting more egalitarian principles meant that many former samurai became bureaucrats or professionals in other emerging sectors of society.