Mandalorian
The Mandalorians were a clan-based cultural group that was composed of members from multiple species all bound by a common creed, language and code, and played a particularly important role in galactic history as legendary warriors with a fearsome reputation as conquerors as well as mercenaries and bounty hunters.
Originating around the year 9991 BBY, on the planet of Mandalore in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories, the Mandalorians' way of life revolved around honor and war, being led by a sole ruler known as the Mand'alor, whose Protectors established a balance of control in the Mandalorians' warrior clan society. As a result of their warrior culture, the Mandalorians launched several wars of expansion by the time of the Old Republic-era, colonizing nearby worlds such as Krownest, Ordo, and Concord Dawn, sucessfully establishing their own sector, known as Mandalorian Space.
Throughout their history, several types of Mandalorian warriors came into existance, such as Mandalorian crusaders, rally masters, and Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders, all of who waged war on the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, conflicts that according to legends, involved a Mand'alor who went by the name of Mandalore the Great.
In spite of this, relations between the Mandalorians and the Jedi were not always hostile, as Tarre Vizsla, a human Mandalorian, was inducted into the Jedi Order as a child, creating a lightsaber known as the Darksaber around the year 1050 BBY. Tarre eventually founded House Vizsla, claiming the position of Mand'alor, with the Darksaber becoming a symbol of leadership for House Vizsla as well as the entire Mandalorian people.
However, after Vizsla's death, members of his house raided the Jedi Temple during the fall of the Old Republic, stealing the Darksaber and using it to reunify the Mandalorian people, waging war once more on the Jedi Order. Unfortunately, the final conflict between the Mandalorian warlords and the Jedi at the planet Mandalore led to a a cataclysm that turned much of it's surface into a lifeless white desert, rendering it uninhabitable outside of hermetically sealed dome cities. After their defeat, the Mandalorians remained isolated in their sector well into the High Republic Era, not attempting to wage another war on either the Jedi nor the Republic, with which they coexisted through treaties. However, the Mandalorians' warrior ways and desire for conquest remained alive, eventually leading to infighting and civil wars.
However, although Mandalore was still under control of traditional Mandalorian warriors, much of the planet's population had become part of a pacifist movement known as the New Mandalorians, led by the young Duchess Satine Kryze of House Kryze, with the traditionalist warriors being forced to use violence to hold on to power. Eventually, around the year 42 BBY, a civil war broke out between the pacifist New Mandalorian movement and the martial traditionalists, who wished to maintain their warrior heritage. Mandalore's capital of Keldabe was destroyed during the Mandalorian Civil War, and many perished during the conflict, including Duke Adonai Kryze, Satine's father. Satine herself had to remain under protection from the Jedi Order, as the traditionalists sent bounty hunters after her. However, Mandalore's traditionalist minority was eventually defeated during the war, being exiled to Mandalore's moon of Concordia. While the Death Watch, a traditionalist group under Mand'alor Pre Vizsla, wished to retake their homeworld, the Old Mandalorians scattered across the galaxy as mercenaries.
During the Clone Wars, members of the warrior culture would align themselves with both sides of the conflict, which was secretly orchestrated by the Sith Order, who hired the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett to become the clone template for the Grand Army of the Republic, with Fett's clones being trained by the Mandalorian Protectors, while the Death Watch briefly joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems, in hopes of reclaiming Mandalore. Under the New Mandalorian government, Mandalore remained neutral and participated in the Council of Neutral Systems as a leading member. However thanks to being backed up by the criminal conglomerate known as the Shadow Collective, Death Watch was able to topple the ruling New Mandalorian regime, but the machinations of Maul, leader of the Collective, led to another civil war among the Death Watch, which split into the Collective-backed Mandalorian super commandos, and the Mandalore resistance, which was supported by the Republic. However, the conflict culminated in the occupation of Mandalore by the Galactic Republic and its subsequent government, the Galactic Empire, while Concord Dawn, the Protectors' headquarters, was transformed into a protectorate.
Following the rise of the Empire, Bo-Katan Kryze was made Regent of Mandalore, but she refused to follow Emperor Sheev Palpatine. As a result, she was replaced with Gar Saxon, a former Mandalorian super commando, who was installed as Viceroy over Mandalore, his rule enforced by the Imperial Super Commandos. As with many worlds in the galaxy, Mandalore was oppressed under Imperial rule, with weapons such as the Arc Pulse Generator being developed to pacify and rein in the war-like civilization, while the Mandalorian Protectors under Fenn Rau were forced to seve the Empire on Concord Dawn. However, during the Galactic Civil War, the Empire's rule on Mandalore was opposed by the Mandalorian resistance, which was supported by the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and was also joined by Fenn Rau after the Protectors' destruction.
Related Organizations
