Long before the interstellar wars of the 24th century, a species of highly advanced humanoids
roamed the galaxy using their DNA to seed life on many worlds, some of which eventually
evolved into intelligent, adaptable, resilient beings with cultures and civilizations of
their own, like Humans, Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians hailing from Cardassia Prime.
As bipedal humanoids, the descendants of these Progenitor shared many physical, emotional
and psychological traits, yet the diverse environments under which they evolved also
allowed for many differences, with unique Cardassians characteristics, including grey
skin, two thick vertical ridges on their necks and an inverted tear or spoon shaped ridge
on their foreheads. They also preferred, darker, hotter and more humid environments, relative
to the other species descended from the Progenitors. An ancient people with a rich, vibrant history,
Cardassians were once known as Hebitians, possessing a spiritual culture famed for art
and architecture, burying their dead in elaborate tombs, filled with treasures like Jevonite,
a rare, beautiful and highly valued mineral found on their planet. While official contact
with Bajor was not made until many years later, a Bajoran lightship designed for short range
space flight crash landed on Cardassia Prime in the 16th century, after encountering Tachyon
Eddies that created a warp style jump through space. Though the later Cardassian government
denied these early flights took place, they eventually admitted the truth after Commander
Benjamin Sisko of the Federation, proved it was possible by building a Bajoran light ship
and recreating the journey. Unfortunately for the Hebitian civilization,
by the 19th Century, Cardassia Prime was largely a resource poor planet, meaning that as their
population grew their prosperity waned, resulting in widespread famine and disease. Unable to
save their people, the ruling elite were replaced with the Cardassian Union, a new highly centralized
government seeking a radical reformation of society to ensure their survival. Though many
were involved in making this possible, none played a larger role than Tret Akleen, thereafter
remembered as the father of the Cardassian Union.
Dividing their administrative duties between three branches of government, the Civilian
Detapa Council was meant to oversee the Military Central Command and Obsidian Order Espionage
Agency. This government then created and promoted a new foundation for virtue and morality based
on complete devotion to State and Family. In exchange for accepting this new philosophy,
the government would usedany means necessary to ensure the population was fed and adequately
supplied. Though this meant losing many important parts of their culture, the reforms worked
and famines ended, earning the respect and admiration of the people who then embraced
these new values, which included adhering to rigid hierarchy, engaging in espionage,
employing underhanded tactics to win by any means, and ruthlessly competing to obtain
power. As a result Cardassians became a highly suspicious, paranoid people ever eager to
take the advantage in any situation as they feared others would seek to do the same. According
to the Federation Captain Edward Jellico "Cardassians are like timber wolves – predators… bold in large
numbers… cautious by themselves… and with an instinctive need to establish a dominant
position in any social gathering." During a 22nd century experiment conducted by the
Organians, an advanced alien species, Cardassians were infected with a deadly virus and initially
showed compassion for the sick but eventually killed the infected to save the larger group.
As for their personal lives, Cardassian were greatly devoted to the family unit, taking
pride in ensuring the safety, prosperity and reputation of their household. Valuing education,
Cardassian children went through intensive training from a young age, ensuring a highly
educated and capable population known for their photographic memories and ability to
discuss nearly any subject, so well disciplined they could resist Vulcan Mind Melds. Believing
themselves superior to other species, they were also desensitized from a young age, taught
that torture and other horrors were fine in directed towards enemies of the state. Greatly
enjoying discourse of all forms, their mating rituals largely consisted of flirting through
argumentation and debate, with intense discussion often considered a catalysis for romance.
Though both males and females were free to work where they pleased, men mostly went into
the military and government, while women entered the sciences and engineering.
Once a highly spiritual people, admiration for the new non-theist government meant they
became less superstitious over time, believing their own actions determined outcomes rather
than gods or luck. Yet in reality their blind devotion merely shifted from the gods of their
old religion to the State, believing they must be willing to sacrifice everything for
their infallible government. Using this philosophy as a guiding principle, their legal system
consisted of a show trial, in which all criminals were found guilty before the proceedings began.
Therefore, the purpose of their televised trials were to give the prisoners an opportunity
to confess, thereby reassuring the Cardassian population the government was always right,
and criminals were always caught. This all encompassing devotion to the state even influenced
their art and literature, producing famed works like The Never Ending Sacrifice, an
epic story spanning seven generations within a family that showed selfless obedience to
Cardassia. Successfully stabilizing their home planet
and nearby systems for long stretches between the 19th and 24th, the Cardassian Union greatly
expand their space through military conquest and colonization, sometimes settling their
people on these new worlds, or else enslaving local populations to extract resources. Eventually,
their efforts proved so successful that by the mid 24th century, the Cardassian Union
was considered one of four great superpowers dominating a large region of the Alpha and
Beta quadrants. Yet similar to the Hebitians, their successes meant increases in the population
and an increased need for resources, leading to periods of destabilization where Cardassia
Prime once again faced famine and starvation. Therefore, when ancient Hebitian Tombs were
discovered in the 22nd century, many rich treasures and exquisite artworks were ransacked
by locals, with even those relics saved and preserved in a museum, eventually sold by
the government to feed the population. During the 23rd century, another period of destabilization
caused the Cardassian government to be temporarily replaced by the First Republic, a period associated
with the serialist poetry of authors like Iloja of Prim, who was later exiled to Vulcan.
By the 24th century, the First Republic was gone and the Cardassian Union returned, with
the Detapa Council once again overseeing Central Command and the Obsidian Order. However the
reality of the situation meant the government acted as a police state or military dictatorship
with Central Command as the primary authority, while the Detapa Council acted as advisors
and the Obsidian Order operated on their own, leveraging secrets to assert their influence
when they deemed necessary. With their government’s power dependent
on supplying resources to their people, they once again started expanding and conquering
neighbouring systems, leading to contact with the Bajorans in 2319, a highly spiritual people
with a kind, generous nature easily exploited by the invaders. Possessing technology a century
more advanced then anything held by the Bajorans, the Cardassian Union officially annexed Bajor
by 2328, enslaving the population to extract their resources.
Yet the Bajorans were a fiercely independent people, not content to simply live as slaves
and so formed an extremist rebel movement that used gorilla tactics and terrorism to
fight back against their oppressors. By 2369, the ruthless yet strategically minded rebel
attacks did so much damage, the Cardassian Union suffered a humiliating defeat and was
forced to withdraw, granting victory and freedom to Bajor.