|
|
 |
|
 |
|
» LCARS » Xenology Database » B » Bajoran (Alpha Quadrant)
 | Bajoran |  |
|---|
| Playable: Yes | |
|
|---|
The planet Bajor.
|
Former Bajoran Resistance fighters Furel and Lupaza.
|
|
 Physiology  |
|---|
Bajorans are similar in appearance to Humans, except for ridges on the bridge of their nose.
The Bajoran heart is mirrored along a horizontal axis, unlike the Human heart which is mirrored along a vertical axis. A puncture in the lower ventricle of the heart causes instantaneous death.
Bajoran pregnancies last for less than 5 months. Mother and child form complex network of interconnecting blood vessels. Bajoran women often have uncontrollable bouts of sneezing while pregnant. Makara leaves are Bajoran herbs traditionally given to pregnant woman to maintain their progesterone levels. Resembling Terran bay leaves they have a somewhat unpleasant taste and can interfere with sedatives. During birth, the relaxation of the mother is essential. Participants at the birthing ceremony play rhythmic instruments to help her reach a fully relaxed state. When the child is born, all verbally welcome the child into the world. |
| History |
|---|
Bajorans are native to the M-Class planet Bajor, located in the Alpha quadrant, near the Cardassian border.
Ancient Bajorans had a highly developed civilization with exceptional art, architecture, philosophy, and technology 500,000 years ago, before Humans stood erect.
The First Republic is an ancient Bajoran civilzation. An old library was reopened in 2371 on Bajor, which contained manuscripts that were dated from before the fall of the First Republic.
Cardassia occupied Bajor in 2328, and retained control of the planet for decades. Bajor was offically annexed by Cardassia in 2339. Many Bajorans fled the Occupation, and settled on various worlds. During the occupation, any Bajorans caught teaching the word of the Prophets were arrested, and often beaten.
One infamous case occured at the Gallitep labor camp on Bajor. The camp was run by the Cardassian Gul Darhe'el, who was later known as the Butcher of Gallitep. During his command of the camp, thousands of Bajorans were tortured and killed while working in inhumane conditions. When Darhe'el was ordered to vacate the camp during the Cardassian withdrawl from Bajor, he ordered that all the Bajorans in the camp be killed. Only a few escaped.
Kendra Valley Massacre was a notorious atrocity during the occupation. Kai Opaka's son and 42 other Bajoran freedom fighters were ambushed and killed because Prylar Bek gave the Cardassians the location of their encampment. Prylar Bek later committed suicide and made a full confession in his suicide note.
Gul Dukat was the Prefect of Bajor at the time the Cardassian Occupation ended in 2369. The Cardassians had occupied Bajor for 60 years, and robbed the planet of every valuable resource before abandoning it, leaving the Bajorans were left without means to sustain themselves. Federation relief efforts are barely adequate. Over 10 million Bajorans were killed during the Occupation.
The wormhole was discovered by Benjamin Sisko of starfleet. He has also been designated the Emissary of the Prophets. Renamed Deep Space Nine, the station was moved out orbit of Bajor, and placed so as to protect the wormhole. Since the discovery of the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, the Bajorans have enjoyed an increase in political power and wealth.
That same year, the Bajoran government asked Benjamin Sisko to mediate a disagreement between two rival factions, the Paqu and the Navot. At issue was a land dispute, which could trigger a civil war. The land inhabited by the Paqu and the Navot is some of the harshest on the planet. Paqu Tetrarch at the time was Varis Sul, a young girl. Tetrarch is a title passed down by hereditary. The Paqu choose to avoid contact with outsiders. According to the treaty that has existed between the Paqu and Navot for the last 90 years: "the border separating the Paqu and the Navot shall forever be the river Glyrhond." However, during the occupation, the Cardassians diverted the river for use in their mining operations. As a result, the Glyrhond now flows 20 km west of it's former position, 20 km into what was Navot territory. The Paqu wanted to retain the gained land, but offered to return it for free trade access to both sides of the river.
The Alliance for Global Unity, also known as the Circle, was an extremist isolationist faction that sought to overthrow the provisional government in 2370. They believed in Bajor for the Bajorans, and that all other species are inferior and should be expelled from the planet. The Circle was led by Minister Jaro Essa, and was well organized and armed. Arms for the movement were secretly provided by the Cardassians, through Kressari intermediaries, and the Circle was unaware of who their supporters really were. They briefly occupied Deep Space Nine, but surrendered control after the source of their weapons was revealed. The Circle disappeared soon after.
In 2369, Bajor applied for membership in the Federation. Their application was accepted in 2373, but the Bajoran Chamber of Ministers decided to defer admission following the recommendation of the Emissary.
In 2370, evidence surfaced that Prylar Bek had not been involved in the Kendra Valley Massacre, but was protecting someone else. The evidence seemed to indicate that Vedek Bareil was responsible. Vedek Bareil did not deny the charges. He claimed the Cardassians were determined to wipe out the resistance in the Kendra Valley. If someone hadn't told them the location of the encampment, they would have destroyed all the villages there, resulting in the death of 1200 Bajorans. Vedek Bareil had been the leading candidate for Kai, but this damaged his support, and Vedek Winn was elected the new Kai. Vedek Bareil was also protecting the perpetrator, Kai Opaka herself. She sacrificed her own son to save the villages in the Kendra Valley.
The Jem'Hadar killed the Bajoran colonists on New Bajor for violating their territory in 2370, along with several Federation ships in the Gamma Quadrant. Travel through the wormhole was suspended until the USS Odyssey could assess the threat. The USS Odyssey was destroyed by them Jem'Hadar.
Free Haven, a Bajoran colony, was attacked by Breen privateers in early 2372. |
| Society |
|---|
The Bajorans are led by both a religious assembly, and a secular government. The religious branch is the Vedek Assembly, led by the Kai. The legislative body is the Chamber of Ministers, led by the First Minister, who is elected for a term of six years. Ministries include the Commerce Ministry.
Up until the Cardassian Occupation, Bajoran society was divided into D'jarras, or castes. A family's D'jarra determined it's social standing, and their profession. Members of one D'jarra were not allowed to associate with members of a lesser D'jarra. It was abolished in 2328 when all Bajorans were called upon to fight Cardassian oppression, regardless of caste. The experience of working together for a common goal helped Bajorans understand that all people are created equal.
The Bajoran Militia is the armed forces branch of the Bajoran governement.
The Bajorans use their surname first and their given name second.
School years are organized by age levels, and children are taught art as young as age 4.
When Bajorans get engaged, the man gives the woman a new earring. |
| Technology |
|---|
Bajorans travelled space in solar-sail vessels eight centuries ago. They were propelled by light from Bajor's sun, and tachyon eddies. They had no impulse or warp engines, but large reflective sails. Caught by tachyon eddies in the Denorios Belt, the ships were propelled to faster than light speeds, and travelled as far as Cardassia.
According to scientific studies, the wormhole is stable due to verteron partices that allow a vessel to travel through it at impulse. The wormhole covers about 70,000 light years. Sensors read elevated neutrino levels when an object exits the wormhole. A trail of silithium particles left by a comet through the wormhole allows subspace communication through it. The wormhole undergoes subspace inversion every 50 years. It last underwent it in 2372. An attempt to seal the wormhole during the Dominion war failed. As a result of the attempt, the wormhole became even more stable, so much so that not even trilithium explosives would destroy it.
The Bajor Master Data Banks are a comprehensive Bajoran database. |
| Bajoran Law |
|---|
Possession of a cloaking device is illegal under Bajoran law.
In the Ilvian Proclamation, every Bajoran who was a member of the Cardassian occupational government was sentenced to exile. |
| Bajoran Religion |
|---|
The Bajorans have a complex system of religious belief. To Bajorans, the land and the people who live on it are one and the same. The Bajorans believe the wormhole is the Celestial Temple, home to the Prophets, who they look to for spiritual guidance. Bajoran tradition holds that the Celestial Temple is the sourse of the nine Orbs (also called Tears of the Prophets) that tradition says were sent by Prophets to teach the Bajoran people. What they learned has shaped their theology.
Bajoran religious services can be 2 hours long and include sermons.
According the Bajoran beliefs the three keys to enlightenment are Charity, Humility and Faith.
The Third Orb is known as The Orb of Prophecy and Change. It is located at a monestary on Bajor. In 2375, the Emissary discovered the Orb of the Emissary on the desert planet Tyree. This orb was never mentioned in the ancient Bajoran texts.
The Pagh is a person's spiritual life force, Bajorans believe it is replenished by the Prophets.
The Bajorans celebrate the arrival of the Emissary with an annual holiday called the Ha'mara.
According the Bajoran religion, vessels are guided to safety by the Prophets. Some conservative Bajorans object to any scientific stufy of the wormhole.
Bajorans believe that a deceased's soul should make peace with its former life and say goodbye to those they leave behind before going to the afterlife. The Bajoran death chant, a funeral ritual, is over two hours long.
A duranja is a ceremonial lamp for the dead. It is a one meter high ornate candleholder in which a flame is kept continually lit in memory of a recently deceased loved one. Ritual prayers are said over the lamp, asking the Prophets to guide the deceased into heaven.
Borhyas is the Bajoran term for a ghost or spirit.
The Pah-wraith cult is a Bajoran cult that worships the Pah-wraiths, the enemies of the Prophets. They wear red armbands, and red earrings. At one time the cult was not taken seriously. However, after the wormhole disappeared in the 2370s, the cult began appearing all over Bajor, because many people felt abandoned by the Prophets. Dukat led a group of them on Empok Nor. Dukat claimed the Pah-wraiths chose him as their Emissary. |
| Notes |
|---|
Some have adopted a superstitution that making a wish when seeing the wormhole open would make that wish come true.
The Dal'Rok was a cloudlike energy creature that threatened a Bajoran villiage for five nights every year. The villiage was saved each time by the Sirah, who would tell heroic takes of the village people repelling the evil entity. In actual fact, the Dal'Rok was an illusion created from the fears of the villagers by the Sirah, who used a small fragment of an Orb from the Celestial Temple to create a common enemy that would unite the people of the village.
There is a Bajoran colony located on the planet Dreon VII.
An old Bajoran saying: "The land and the people are one."
Navarch was a title created just for the Bajoran war hero Li Nalas.
A batos is a big, smelly, bajoran animal. They are a domesticated herd animal, that are sluggish. You have to poke them to keep them moving. Palukoo are spider-like creatures that inhabit the Bajoran moons. Bajorans used to eat them.
"The Runners" is the name of a constellation in the Bajoran night sky. It was also visible from Deep Space Nine. Sisko never found out if they were running toward something, or away from something.
The Bajoran Fund for Orphans is a popular Bajoran charity. |
| New Info |
|---|
The Cardassians took over Bajor 60 years ago, and robbed the planet of every valuable resource before abandoning it. The Bajorans were left without means to sustain themselves. The Bajoran provisional government requested a Federation presence in the Bajoran system following the withdrawal of Cardassian occupation forces. The Cardassians trashed the Terok Nor before they left, taking every component of value, and killing four people protecting their shops. Federation relief efforts are barely adequate. Factions of Bajorans that were united against the Cardassians were at each other's throats once the Cardassians withdrew, and their religion was the only thing holding the Bajorans together. The Federation intended to do everything short of violating the Prime Directive to see that they were ready for Federation membership. Nine Orbs have appeared in Bajor's skies over the past 10,000 years. The Cardassians stole eight of them during the Occupation. Tradition says the Orbs were sent by the Prophets to teach the Bajorans. What they learned has shaped their theology. They are also called Tear of the Prophets. The Emissary is a Bajoran religious figure. Kai Opaka told Benjamin Sisko that he was to be the Emissary. The Kai is the spiritual leader of Bajor. The Kai has great influence over Bajoran society and politics. In Bajoran religion, the pagh is a person's spiritual life force. It is replenished by the Prophets. When exploring someone's pagh, Bajorans hold the person’s earlobe. (DS9: Emissary)
The Kohn-Ma was a Bajoran terrorist organization, splinter group of the Bajoran Resistance. They committed atrocities against the Cardassians, and claimed responsibility for the assassination of a First Minister of the Provisional Government, shortly after Cardassian withdrawal. Tahna Los was a Kohn-Ma terrorist who attempted to collapse the entrance to the wormhole. (DS9: Past Prologue)
The Higa Metar sect was a sect of the Bajoran underground during the Cardassian occupation. Bajoran Scientist Dekon Elig belonged to this sect. (DS9: Babel)
Bajorans can remain active in their careers into their 100s. (DS9: Dax)
Baggy clothes were fashionable on Bajor in 2369. (DS9: Move Along Home)
Tessipates and Kellipates are Bajoran measurements of land. (DS9: Progress)
Bajoran litas are a unit of currency used on Bajor. (DS9: Necessary Evil)
Bajoran judges use a round stone as a gavel in hearings. The Bajorans do not have an extradition agreement with Klaeston IV. In Bajoran hearings, the involved parties must testify. They can only refuse to testify if it is a trial. (DS9: Dax)
Contributed by: Clare Bradley |
| Sources |
|---|
| Non-canon information is shown like this. Use with caution or not at all. |
|
|
