With a history stretching back over 500 000 years, the people of Bajor created civilizations
which embraced science, philosophy and art, creating a rich and unique culture before
humans had even learned to speak.
In time, their people were contacted by mysterious Non-corporeal aliens, who seemed to have a
connection to this planet and population.
Describing themselves as “of Bajor”, they came to be worshipped as gods and granted
visions to certain Bajorans through a device called the Orb of the Prophets, the first
of which was given to their people roughly 30 000 years before the founding of the 24th
century Bajoran Republic.
Yet there was a dark side to their growing religion as some of these Prophets rebelled
against the will of the others, and were exiled from their dimension, which could only be
accessed through a wormhole located near Bajor.
These fallen gods were known as Pah-wraiths, and represent cruelty and injustice, the evil
adversaries to the venerated prophets.
As part of the continuing struggle between them, both a Prophet and Pah-wraith were entombed
in a stone tablet, to await the day they would be released by the Emissary and finish their
battle.
Over thousands of years 8 more Orbs were given to the Bajorans, becoming highly prized religious
artefacts, though the visions they granted were often vague and open to interpretation.
Through there interactions with the Orb of Prophecy and Change, religious leaders began
to write about their experiences, creating prophecies like those concerning the future
Emissary of Bajor.
Although this religion seemed to successfully spread throughout the planet, making their
shared spirituality a core feature of Bajoran culture and civilization, their people remained
politically divided, developing into factions which competed with one another and sometimes
went to war.
By the 16the century, Bajoran technology had developed to the point where they could launch
lightships into space, designed for short range travel.
However on one occasion a ship was transported to Cardassia Prime, 5 light years away, when
it made contact with Tachyon Eddies that created a warp style jump through space.
Unfortunately the voyage did heavy damage to the ship causing it to crash land on the
planet, and while this was a noteworthy historical landmark for the Bajorans, the later Cardassian
government denied these early flights ever took place, until the 24th century when Benjamin
Sisko and his son proved the journey was possible, forcing them to admit the truth.
By the 22nd century Bajoran culture had developed to embrace a caste system, whereby an individual’s
purpose in life was determined by the caste or D’jarra into which they were born, such
as the Te'nari who were deemed to be lower in the social order then the Ih'valla who
were artists and sculpters.
During this century, the Bajorans would inadvertently discover the temple of the prophets, where
their gods resided, as their ships started by pass by the location of the wormhole.
When the religious leader Kai Taluno saw the great portal open up before him, he described
it as his ship nearly being swallowed by the heavens.
Later the great poet Akorem Laan also encountered the wormhole when his ship became trapped
within, living in the realm of the prophets for 200 years before he was released back
into the Alpha Quadrant.
In 2279, Bajor took a great step towards bringing peace to their planet, when the factions of
Paqu and Navot signed a treaty to establish borders.
However nothing would work to unite the Bajoran people more than the transformation that occurred
in the 24th century, when their planet was occupied and annexed by a greater military
power.
Although the Bajorans had an ancient culture and were a relatively advanced species, establishing
colonies on other planets like Golana, the Cardassian Union came to see them as primitive
and backwards, as their own technology was roughly a century more advanced.
And so in 2319 the Cardassian military established a presence on their planet, offering to help
modernize their society, in exchange for access to the planets abundant natural resources.
The Bajorans, seeing how powerful these aliens were, did not originally offer much resistance,
allowing for the Cardassian Union to formally annex the planet in 2328.
However over the next 40 years, the Cardassians proved to be ruthless overlords, mocking the
primitive religious beliefs of the local population while using them as forced labor and steal
their natural resources.
Many came to see them as cruel oppressors, committing various atrocities like indiscriminate
killings, performing cruel medical experiments on Bajoran subjects, and exploiting comfort
women, who were forced to be intimate with Cardassian officers.
Although some Bajorans went along with the new order, forming a Government which served
as puppets to the Cardassian, others were unwilling to accept subjugation, creating
a rebel movement of decentralized terrorist cells, using guerrilla tactics to kill their
oppressors as well as collaborators.
Many officials chose to respond harshly to these attacks, however this approach only
served to entice the Bajorans further into rebellion, and so one of their officers chose
to employ a different tactic, hoping that a more gentle hand would quell the unrest.
For 5 years, the Prefect of Bajor Gul Dukat, oversaw the construction of Terok Nor, an
ore processing facility orbiting above their planet, which became the central seat of authority
for the Cardassian commander.
From there Dukat, who arrogantly considered the Bajorans his children, made new laws he
hoped would endear him to the people, cutting labor camp output quotas by fifty percent,
abolishing child labor, and improving medical care and food rations.
As a result, there was a twenty percent drop in labor camp death rates.
However, this in no way appeased the rebels, who demanded their complete withdrawal from
the planet, and so only a month after Dukat took command, they targeting and destroyed
an orbital drydock killing two hundred Cardassians.
After that, the resistance forces attempted to assassinate Dukat on 5 separate occasions,
and so seeing no reward for his acts of compassion, Dukat came to loathe the Bajorans, reversing
his policies to become even more cruel and oppressive.
Nevertheless, by 2369 the Bajorans had done so much damage and caused such chaos among
the occupation army, the Cardassians withdrew from the conflict, granting victory to Bajor.
Having underwent such a drastic transformation during this century, the Bajoran people were
no longer comfortable with a caste system and remaining politically divided, and so
the planet united under a Provisional Bajoran government, attempting to create a modern,
advanced civilization that could join the galactic community around them.
To aid them in this cause, they befriended the United Federation of Planets, who agreed
to help them rebuild their planet in the hopes they might one day be considered for membership
in the Federation.
However, despite their good intentions, the political situation on bajor remained volatile
for some time, as many of their people had come to distrust alien powers, creating a
xenophobic anti-alien movements called The Circle, which attempted a coup against the
government only a year after the end of the occupation.
However the attempt failed and by 2371, their situation had begun to stabilize, even taking
a step towards normalizing relations relations between Bajor and Cardassia, with the signing
of a treaty that recognized Bajor’s sovereignty.
Although some continued to distrust alien powers, their relationship with the Federation
grew stronger due in large part to the Bajoran belief that Commander Benjamin Sisko, the
Federation Officer assigned to Deep Space Nine, was the long awaited Emmissary of the
Prophets.
Although it was a role he did not want, he soon came to accept the position after receiving
a number of visions which made it clear he had a role to play in the future of Bajor.
As a result, in 2373, when the Bajoran Republic was ready to formally join the Federation,
they pulled out of the agreement at the last moment, on the advice of Ben Sisko, who had
been warned through a vision, that Bajor must stand alone if it was to survive.
Perhaps proving the wisdom of this decision, the Alpha Quadrant was soon invaded by the
Dominion of the Gamma Quadrant, who moved their forces through the Bajoran wormhole
and quickly allied with the Cardassian Union.
Yet because Bajor had remained independent, they were able to sign a non-aggression treaty
and largely stayed out of the fighting that erupted throughout the quadrant.
Although the Dominion made fast advances, capturing Deep Space Nine and taking possession
of the wormhole, the Federation and Klingon alliance soon took it back, thanks to the
intervention of the prophets, who, at the request of Sisko, caused an entire armada
of dominion ship to disappear inside the wormhole, making them unable to bring reinforcements
into the Alpha Quadrant.
Soon the Romulans joined the alliance and in time they gained victory over the invading
forces, signing the treaty of Bajor in 2375.
After their victory, the role of the Emissary was finally coming to a close, with Sisko
journeying to the fire caves of Bajor to confront Dukat who was now in league with the Pah Wraiths.
After a brief battle, Sisko sees only one way to end it, and grabs ducat, throwing both
of them and the sacred Book of the Kosst Amojan into the fire pit, sealing them away forever.
No longer facing threats from the Dominion, Cardassians or Pah-wraiths, Bajor was now
in a position to thrive and prosper without interference, continuing to worship and be
guided by the Prophets of the Celestial Temple.