Klingon history Like its people , the history of the Klingon Empire is violent but colorful . Early history . A " Garden of Eden " - like place known as " Qui ' Tu " played a role in Klingon creation myths . Kortar , the first Klingon , along with his mate , were created by god s whom they subsequently destroyed . ( ; ; ) In 2369 , evidence was discovered that suggested that many of the galaxy ' s humanoid races were descended from a single humanoid race , the originators of the basic anatomy . Around 4 . 5 billion years ago , they had seeded many worlds with a DNA code to guide evolution to a form resembling their own . Klingons displayed evidence of these DNA sequences . ( ) Birth of the Klingon Empire . Caskets with Klingon corpses dating back " thousands of years " before 2256 were incorporated in the ceremonial armor of the " Sarcophagus " . ( ) According to Klingon lore , Qo ' noS , the Klingon homeworld , was ruled by Molor in the 9th century AD . While Molor was a tyrannical dictator who was generally unpopular among the people , the chimneys of the planet ' s volcano es housed shrines in which live sacrifices were thrown in his honor . Kahless the Unforgettable , a commoner , emerged as a champion of the people , and stood against Molor ' s troops at Qam - Chee . Here , Kahless and the Lady Lukara fought a pitched battle in the city ' s Great Hall while the rest of the city ' s garrison fled before the five hundred soldiers . Shortly after their victory , the two began what became known as the greatest romance in Klingon history . Kahless eventually slew Molor in single combat at the River Skral using the first " bat ' leth " , the Sword of Kahless – an event that centuries later was still celebrated in the Empire through the " Kot ' baval " Festival . ( ; ; ) After Molor ' s defeat , his temples were abandoned and built over . However , followers of Molor , who had their own traditions , would continue to openly exist as long as into the 23rd century . ( ) Klingons , at one point , practiced mummification , allegedly also on Molor . ( ; ) Despite his low birth , Kahless ruled , together with his new wife , as Emperor of Qo ' noS , establishing the First Empire and conquering the Fek ' Ihri . Kahless proved to be not only a powerful warrior , but also a wise ruler , establishing a code of honor that was to become the template for Klingon society for centuries to come . ( ) Kahless was not just a warrior , but also a philosopher , and his words were frequently invoked by warriors about to enter battle . Among his sayings were " " A leader is judged not by the length of his reign , but by the decisions he makes . " " ( ) Kahless ' legends were recorded in a series of scrolls called the " paq ' batlh " . ( ) Sometime after Kahless united all Klingons , he left . Claiming that he was going to " Sto - vo - kor " , he pointed to a star and said , " " Look for me there , on that point of light . " " The place Kahless pointed out was later named Boreth , becoming the most sacred place for Klingons . ( ) The way to an interstellar empire . Kahless ' greatest legacies include not only the creation of the Klingon Empire , but also establishing the position of Emperor , thereby founding a monarchy that endured almost uninterrupted for 1 , 100 years . Noted emperors include Sompek , remembered for his conquest of Tong Vey , when ten thousand of his warriors laid siege to the city . When Sompek captured Tong Vey , he ordered the entire population massacred , and the city burned to the ground . Emperor Mur ' Eq , on the other hand , is known for introducing the use of blunted " bat ' leth " s for practice , in order to make sure " his warriors kill their enemies and not each other " . ( ; ; ) In the 14th century , the Klingon homeworld was sacked by a race they called " Hur ' q " ( Klingonese for " outsider " ) . The " Hur ' q " were a powerful race from the Gamma Quadrant , who possibly used the Bajoran wormhole to reach Qo ' noS . Although they did not stay long , they did not leave before looting many valuable cultural treasures , including the revered Sword of Kahless . ( ; ) The 14th century is also notable for significant religious changes that took place within Klingon society , giving rise to a new cultural outlook which was later described as " " Klingon warriors , who set out and slew all of their gods , because they were more trouble than they were worth . " " ( ) In the beginning of the 16th century , the Second Dynasty ruled over the Klingon Empire . It was ended when General K ' Trelan assassinated Emperor Reclaw and later put to death all the members of the Imperial Family . During the next ten years , the Empire was ruled by a council elected by the people , which is referred to as " The Dark Time " by Klingon historians although it produced several notable reform s . Following this unique but brief period of democracy , a new group of Klingons , called the , was given the titles and names of the original Imperial Family , in order to create the illusion of an unbroken line , since the true Imperial bloodlines were cut at the end of the Second Dynasty . ( ) According to Quark , Klingons achieved warp drive sometime after 1947 . By the year 2152 , Klingon vessels were capable of warp 6 . ( ; ) In 2016 , crossed into Klingon space near H ' atoria , prompting the Klingons to destroy it immediately . Not wanting to make the same mistake twice , the Vulcan s henceforth fired first whenever they crossed paths with Klingons until formal diplomatic relations were established . As Commander Michael Burnham later put it , " " They said ' hello ' in a language the Klingons understood . Violence brought respect . Respect brought peace . " " ( ) In the mid - 21st century , the imperial monarchy , which claimed to trace its origins to the legendary warrior Kahless , came to an end when the last Emperor died and the leadership of the Empire fell to the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council . ( ) During the Second Empire , Chancellor Mow ' ga sent a fleet to conquer the Breen , but it was never heard from again . ( ) According to Tuvok , it was due to the Klingons being outlaws , as well as their violent and brutal behavior , that the stability of the quadrant , as it was in the late 21st century , was not achieved again until the late 23rd century . ( ) " In the alternate reality , in 2259 , Admiral was among those who labeled the Klingons as outlaws . " ( ) 22nd century . By the 22nd century , the Klingons were a major regional power , fielding a formidable military , referred to as the Klingon Defense Force . ( ) Klingon forays into space up until the middle of the century included a starship which attempted to enter the Delphic Expanse in 2133 . When it reemerged , the entire crew was anatomically inverted but still alive . After this incident , the Klingon High Council forbade all ships from entering the Expanse . ( ) At least one Klingon starship had encountered the automated repair station by 2152 , and lost a crew member to it . ( ) Several years before 2154 , the Organian s , a race of massively powerful noncorporeal being s , covertly observed Klingons leaving behind a garbage dump on a planet . The Organians were studying how different ship crews were responding to a deadly , contagious silicon - based virus that their landing parties contracted on the planet . The Klingons were said to have denied the infected back aboard , and their commander eventually had their craft destroyed , killing the landing party . ( ) In the late 2140s and early 2150s , the Klingons were engaged in a fierce internal struggle that , while not amounting to actual civil war , threatened to become a more intense conflict . Numerous attacks had taken place throughout the empire that were blamed on various Klingon factions ; it was not realized at the time that the attacks had actually been launched by the Suliban Cabal , who were taking orders from a mysterious individual who was an operative in the Temporal Cold War . ( ) Early contact with Humans . Although the Klingons had occasional contact with the Vulcans prior to 2151 , they had not met Human s until the Broken Bow Incident , in which a courier named Klaang crashed on Earth while pursued by two Suliban soldiers . After dispatching his two pursuers , Klaang was shot by a local farmer named . Although Vulcan Ambassador Soval advised that Starfleet authorities withhold medical treatment and allow Klaang to die , Captain Jonathan Archer intervened and insisted on returning Klaang to Qo ' noS aboard his ship , . Archer , however , did not understand the complexity or importance of Klingon tradition , and did not realize that returning Klaang to Qo ' noS was a grave dishonor and insult . However , Klaang carried with him proof that the attacks had in fact been launched by the Suliban , which averted a civil war . For this service , Archer and his ship were allowed to leave peacefully . ( ) In early 2153 , the Empire again encountered " Enterprise " when the Human ship rescued a refugee ship from Raatooras that was attempting to flee Klingon territory . Captain Archer chose to render assistance to the refugees , but failed to realize the ramifications of his actions , particularly the embarrassment he would cause the Klingons . When the Klingons demanded that the refugees be handed over for trial , Archer refused to comply . Captain Duras of the intercepted the " Enterprise " and attacked it , unsuccessfully . Archer was later captured and brought to trial on Narendra III , a Klingon colony , for being an " enemy of the state . " In an incendiary tribunal , Archer ' s " interference " with Klingon affairs earned him a life sentence to Rura Penthe . Archer managed to quickly escape from the prison , due to the rescue efforts of his crew , further embarrassing the Klingons . ( ) The Klingons launched several further attempts to recapture Archer , including hiring bounty hunter s and sending Duras himself to track " Enterprise " and recapture Archer . ( ) Duras was unsuccessful in three different attacks against " Enterprise " , and he was finally killed when " Enterprise " destroyed his ship during the third attack , on one of the edges of the Delphic Expanse . ( ) Augment Crisis . The Klingon Empire nearly went to war with Earth during the Augment Crisis in May 2154 , when a group of genetically - engineered Humans hijacked a and ejected its crew into space . In response , the Empire sent scout ships to the vicinity of the Human Proxima colony . Planning to devastate Humanity , the Augment s tried to escalate the incident by annihilating the Klingon Qu ' Vat Colony with a biogenic weapon . Fortunately , war was averted when " Enterprise " destroyed the rogue Humans responsible and saved the colony . ( ) A short time later , the Klingons found genetic material of the Human Augments within the wreckage of the hijacked Bird - of - Prey . Fearing that Starfleet may be attempting to create genetically superior Humans to take over the Empire , they tried to adapt this genetic engineering to improve themselves . An unanticipated side effect was that the Augment DNA caused the Klingon cranial ridge s to dissolve . The test subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence , but then their neural pathways started to degrade and they died in agony . One of the subjects was suffering from the Levodian flu , which was modified by the Augment genes to become a deadly , airborne plague that spread rampantly within the Empire , posing its gravest threat since the " Hur ' q " invasion . In the first stage of this plague , a Klingon ' s physiology mutated to become more Human , for which the degeneration of the cranial ridges was a symptom . With the help of a Klingon scientist named Antaak , Dr . Phlox of the " Enterprise " was able to formulate a cure that halted the genetic effects of the virus in the first stage , retaining the changes in appearance along with some minor neural re - ordering , but with no development of stage two characteristics , such as enhanced strength , speed or endurance . This left millions of Klingons , mostly in the warrior caste , without their ridges . As these alterations were even passed on to their children , Phlox and Antaak theorized that surgical cranial reconstruction might become quite popular for Klingons who would want to restore their outer appearance . Nevertheless , this whole incident embarrassed the Klingons even further and the Empire no doubt began to feel much more contempt for Humans , who were responsible for creating the genetic material in the first place . ( ) Second half of the 22nd century . Starting around the middle of the century , the Klingons encountered Starfleet less often . ( ) 23rd century . Klingon - Federation hostilities . By around 2223 , Klingon - Federation relations had degraded to a point where both powers were in a state of constant unremitting hostility . Although encounters with the Federation were very rare since the mid - 22nd century , they included the inconclusive Battle of Donatu V in 2245 , as well as a Klingon " terror raid " on Doctari Alpha . As there was barely any communication between both sides during this period , almost no one in the Federation had seen a Klingon up until 2256 . ( ; ; ; ) As of 2256 , the twenty - four Klingon Great House s were waging war on each other , their empire having been in disarray for generations . However , in that year , T ' Kuvma , a Klingon of noble heritage but not a member of the High Council , successfully started a by provoking – and eventually falling at – the Battle of the Binary Stars . Under the creed " remain Klingon " , T ' Kuvma , as the first Klingon since Kahless , thereby managed to rally the Empire to a common cause as he had portrayed the Federation as an existential threat , whose space had encroached unacceptably close upon that of the Klingons . ( ) Until his ship was destroyed , the war propelled General of the House of Kor to the top of the High Council , partially via the dissemination of early cloaking screens to loyal commanders as leverage . ( ) The war concluded in 2257 , when Starfleet desperately resorted to a direct assault on Qo ' noS after it had lost one third of its ships and 20 % of Federation territory were under Klingon control . Without official orders , the commander of the assault planted a hydro bomb within the underground volcano system of Qo ' noS . However , the detonator was eventually handed to L ' Rell , an early follower of T ' Kuvma , who used it to seize power over the Empire and continue her former mentor ' s work of uniting the disparate Great Houses . ( ) Relations between the Federation and the Empire remained tense following the war . In 2267 negotiations broke down and the Federation officially declared war against the Empire . The Klingons launched an immediate offensive , seizing several planets , including the strategically important planet Organia . Unexpectedly , this new was brought to a sudden conclusion just days after it had begun , when the Organians , noncorporeal beings who had covertly observed both Klingons and Humans more than a hundred years earlier , intervened . By rendering all weapons inoperative , they forced an end to all hostilities and an Organian representative simultaneously appeared before the Klingon as well as the Federation leaders on Qo ' noS and Earth , respectively . The Treaty of Organia was then imposed , establishing a neutral zone that separated the two powers and instituting a procedure , to be overseen by the Organians , through which planets along the border could be claimed and settled by both sides . ( ; ; ) Despite the Treaty of Organia , a number of confrontations , albeit of limited scope , between the Klingons and the Federation occurred over the next decade . These included hostile encounters at Capella IV , Neural , Elas , and Beta XII - A , as well as disputes over Sherman ' s Planet and the Archanis sector , both of which were eventually ceded to the Federation . In most of these confrontations , the Klingons tried to gain a strategic advantage and secure mining rights for valuable mineral s , such as dilithium . ( ; ) Although a certain relaxation in their relations was indicated by the Klingon Empire formally relinquishing its claim on the Archanis sector to the Federation around 2272 , tensions between the two again came to a head in the 2280s , with the revelation of the secret Project Genesis . While this was devised as a scientific program developing an advanced method of quickly terraforming worlds , it could also be abused as a weapon of mass destruction . While the Klingon Empire was negotiating openly with the Federation , a Bird - of - Prey under the command of Commander Kruge tried to covertly obtain the secrets of the . The Klingons planned to accuse the Federation of duplicity in developing Genesis as a weapon of awesome power and using the negotiations as a cover . ( ; ) However , when the crew of the , commanded by James T . Kirk , managed to capture the Bird - of - Prey , Ambassador Kamarag proclaimed a vendetta against Kirk in 2286 , vowing , " " There shall be no peace , so long as Kirk lives ! " " ( ) Because of this , as well as Kirk ' s previous history with the Klingon Empire , some Klingons considered him a revered figure and worthy opponent . In 2287 , Commander Klaa took his Bird - of - Prey all the way to Qui ' Tu beyond the Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy to pursue Kirk and the . However , General Korrd , who was aboard the " Enterprise " , stopped him from continuing his renegade personal undertaking . ( ) Intermittent developments . On stardate 4326 . 3 , Orion merchant raiders attacked Klingon strategic material outpost s in the Shepard sector . However , in what later became known as the Feira Incident , the Klingon patrol forces under the command of Korrd were unable to stop the Orions , resulting in Korrd to fall into disgrace with the High Council . ( " okudagram " ) Primitive cloaking screens were employed on Klingon vessels as early as 2256 , but Starfleet was quickly able to penetrate them . ( ) However , by 2268 , Klingon battle cruiser s were used by the Romulan s , who retrofitted them with new cloaking devices that rendered Starfleet tracking sensor s useless . ( ) The following year , Starfleet , specifically Commander Spock , assumed the under Commander Kor to possess cloaking capability when trying to explain its complete disappearance from sensors . ( ) Years later , Kor reminisced that , when his ship had been equipped with a cloaking device , it had still been considered a very new technology in the Empire . ( ) In 2271 , Kor led the Klingon Empire to a memorable victory over the Romulan Star Empire in the Battle of Klach D ' kel Brakt . ( ) By 2292 , Romulans and Klingons regarded each other as " blood enemies " . ( ) On two occasions in the 2270s and 2280s , Klingon vessels fell victim to space probes of at least partially unknown origin , which eventually turned out to be Earth - bound . In the 2270s , the entity " V ' ger " neutralized three cruisers whereas another mysterious probe disabled two Klingon vessels in 2286 . ( ; ) An infamous criminal called " The Albino " launched numerous raids against Klingon colonies , prompting the Empire to dispatch three battle cruisers under the commands of Kor , Kang , and Koloth to apprehend him in 2290 . Although his raids were stopped , The Albino could not be captured and soon took revenge against the three commanders by killing their firstborn sons . ( ) In 2297 , it was a Klingon expedition that made first contact with the Ventaxian s . Hired Klingon craftsmen went on to construct homes on Ventax II . ( ) Peace with the Federation . Although negotiations had proceeded intermittently since the imposition of the Organian Peace Treaty in 2267 , no major progress was made in establishing any firm relationship between the Klingons and the Federation . In that same year , a brief but ultimately unsuccessful thawing in relations occurred between the Federation , the Klingon Empire , and the Romulan Star Empire , with the founding of a jointly managed colony on Nimbus III . Dubbed the " planet of galactic peace , " the colony quickly became an embarrassing failure for all three government s , although regular meetings , including Klingon representative General Korrd , did take place at the colony for at least the next twenty years . ( ) A more notable meeting , on the other hand , was a series of negotiations at the Korvat colony in 2289 , where Federation mediator Curzon Dax met with Kang . No lasting agreement was reached at this meeting , but Dax did manage to gain grudging respect from the Klingons and establish a lasting rapport . ( ) The situation abruptly changed with the explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis in 2293 . The disaster caused major problems for the Klingon economy and military , as well as a major ecological crisis on Qo ' noS itself . The Chancellor of the Klingon High Council , Gorkon , took the controversial move of proposing a full peace treaty and establishing a process for dismantling the military fortifications and outposts along their mutual border – the military emplacements and warships that the Klingons could no longer afford . However , peace did not come easily . While " en route " to a meeting with the Federation President on Earth , Gorkon was assassinated by two crewmen from the who were part of an extensive conspiracy opposed to any peace treaty between the two enemies and including members of both sides , such as Admiral Cartwright and General , as well as Romulan Ambassador Nanclus . Gorkon ' s daughter , Azetbur , was appointed as the new chancellor in her father ' s place . Despite enormous pressure from her advisers to abandon the peace initiative , she chose to press forward and see her father ' s vision fulfilled . The ensuing Khitomer Conference resulted in the signing of the Khitomer Accords , a treaty which became the foundation for peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire . For the Romulans on the other hand , it would become a defining motive of the coming decades to re - shift the balance of power by sabotaging this peace . ( ; ) 24th century . Klingon - Federation détente and Romulan aggression . Despite the Khitomer Accords of 2293 , Klingon - Federation relations remained rocky for the following decades , although negotiations for a new peace treaty had begun by 2344 . ( ) That same year , a single courageous act by the crew of a Federation starship finally changed relations for the better , when the responded to a distress signal from the Klingon outpost on Narendra III , which was under attack by the Romulans . Despite overwhelming odds , the " Enterprise " - C rushed to the rescue and was destroyed . The crew ' s conspicuous heroism and ultimate sacrifice , in attempting to protect potential enemies , left a lasting impression on the Klingons , paving the way to further rapprochement towards the Federation . ( ) In 2346 , two years after its attack on Narendra III , but at a time when it was supposed to be " an ally " of the Klingons , the Romulan Star Empire attacked the Klingon planet Khitomer and killed almost all of the 4 , 000 colonists . The raid was made possible by the traitor Ja ' rod of the House of Duras , who supplied the Romulans with the deactivation codes of the colony ' s defensive shields . With the it was again a Federation vessel to be the first ship responding to the distress signal . ( ) In 2350 , Romulan forces made a foolhardy attempt to board Klingon General ShiVang ' s flagship . Following the ensuing battle , Martok , future Chancellor of the Klingon High Council , was given a battlefield commission in the Klingon Defense Forces . That same year , a Klingon attack cost the lives of later Romulan Praetor Neral ' s family . ( ) Around 2349 , relations between the Klingon Empire and the Federation were still described as " not too cordial . " ( ) The mediator Riva gained fame for negotiating several treaties between the Federation and Klingon Empire ; before Riva , there was no Klingon word for " peace - maker . " ( ) By 2353 , the Treaty of Alliance was signed , finally establishing a firm friendship between the two former enemies – just as the Organians had predicted almost eighty years before . Sarek of as well as his son Spock were key figures in devising and negotiating the treaty . ( ; ; ) The Klingons even joined the Federation in some fashion , some time after 2327 but before 2365 . ( ) The Klingon - Federation alliance enabled several strategic cooperations . As part of an Officer Exchange Program , Klingon as well as Starfleet personnel served aboard each other ' s vessels during the 2360s , including Commanders William T . Riker and Kurn , but also exobiologist J ' Dan , who turned out to be spying on behalf of the Romulans , however . ( ) In 2365 , a Klingon cruiser passed on information to Starfleet about debris of the ancient Earth vessel " Charybdis " which it had detected at Theta VII . ( ) Later that year , the and special emissary K ' Ehleyr assisted the Klingon Empire in retrieving the sleeper ship , which had been dispatched on a " crucial " long - range mission in 2290 and , thus , was unaware of the peace between the Klingons and the Federation . ( ) The following year , three Klingon Birds - of - Prey assisted the " Enterprise " - D in escaping a hostile situation against two Romulan Warbird s in orbit of Nelvana III . ( ) In 2367 , the Klingon Empire provided a Bird - of - Prey to Captain Picard and Lieutenant Commander Data , who required cloaked passage to Romulus for a covert mission . ( ) The Klingon - Federation alliance remained a thorn in the flesh of the Romulan Star Empire , and its dissolution , or ideally a new Klingon - Federation war , was an important strategic aim for the Romulans and an appealing alternative for some Klingons , who thought they had become weak due to the alliance . While a cooperation between Romulan Commander Sela and Klingon Ambassador in 2367 , which was intended to frame Starfleet for providing weapons to separatist rebels on the Klingon colony Krios and even murdering the local governor Vagh , was unveiled and thwarted , other attempts at subterfuge culminated in the Klingon Civil War ( see below ) . ( ) Borg threat . In 2366 , the Federation was attacked by a Borg cube . Shortly before the ensuing Battle of Wolf 359 , Starfleet requested Klingon assistance for Admiral J . P . Hanson ' s fleet awaiting the attacking Borg cube . Apparently , the battle began before the Federation fleet could be reinforced . After the destruction of Hanson ' s taskforce , Locutus of Borg stated that " the Klingons will also be assimilated . " ( ) The number of Borg drone s of Klingon origin encountered by the crews of the and the indicates that the Empire , too , was exposed to the aggression of the Borg Collective . While the number and nature of these encounters are unknown , " Voyager " s first officer Chakotay , during a neural link with the Cooperative , became aware of at least one pitched battle the Empire fought against a Borg cube of the same type that engaged Starfleet in the Battle of Wolf 359 . The Klingon Defense Force fared little better than its Federation counterpart in the unspecified battle . ( ; ) Civil war . Despite the establishment of a full peace treaty with the Federation , the Empire did not remain at peace for very long . During the reign of K ' mpec , the longest - lived chancellor in Klingon history , two rival factions developed in the Klingon High Council . One , led by Duras , who was also secretly allied with Romulan interests who were seeking to split the Federation - Klingon alliance , advocated setting an independent and aggressive policy . In 2366 , K ' mpec , with the help of Worf , son of Mogh , even had to conceal the treason committed on Khitomer twenty years earlier by Duras ' father , Ja ' rod – simply to avert civil war . The other faction was led by Gowron and favored continuing the peaceful relationship with the Federation . After K ' mpec died of poisoning in 2367 , the two factions were on the verge of starting a new civil war . ( ) Although Duras was killed by Worf and his relationship with the Romulans exposed , Duras ' sisters , Lursa and B ' Etor , continued the struggle in their brother ' s place . They presented Toral , the illegitimate son of Duras , to challenge Gowron for leadership of the Council . Because the majority of the Council had been corrupted by the House of Duras , they sided with the Duras sisters and walked out of the Council when Arbiter of Succession Jean - Luc Picard rejected Toral ' s claim , making official the division of the Empire . ( ) The civil war , when it finally broke out , was as bold and bloody as any other conflict in Klingon history . The warriors of the Empire threw themselves into the fight with typical zeal – for example , Kurn was heard to shout , " " Our time for glory is here ! " " In the first three engagements , the forces allied with the Duras family decisively defeated Gowron ' s allies . However , it was not generally realized at the time that the Duras forces were secretly receiving material aid from the Romulan Star Empire , namely from Commander Sela and General Movar . The Romulans hoped that a victorious Duras family would end the Federation - Klingon alliance , creating a new Klingon - Romulan alliance to shift the balance of power in the quadrant . However , interests in Starfleet recognized the probability that the Romulans were interfering in the conflict . Jean - Luc Picard and the " Enterprise " - D led a fleet of starships to the Romulan - Klingon border , establishing a blockade and preventing the Romulans from sending the Duras forces further assistance . When the Romulan connection was finally revealed , support quickly fell away from the Duras family , and Gowron successfully reunited the Empire under his leadership . Although he generally kept a pro - Federation stance for the time being , Gowron quickly moved on to " rewrite " history in order to downplay Starfleet ' s part in his victory . ( ) The " Return " of the Emperor . By 2369 , the clerics of Boreth acquired the necessary technology to " recreate " a using DNA from the Knife of Kirom and imprinting Kahless ' memories , as written down in the sacred texts ( most likely the " paq ' batlh " ) , in the clone ' s synaptic pathways . The clerics ' plan was to counter the corruption and dishonor in the Empire , by restoring a strong leadership and reinstating the position of Emperor of the Klingon Empire . " Kahless ' " ascension to this post should follow his faked return from " Sto - vo - kor " ; however , worrying about his chancellorship , Gowron was able to expose the plan of the clerics . Lieutenant Worf thereby suggested that the clone of Kahless be made Emperor , but only in the sense of a moral leader for the Klingon people with Gowron remaining chancellor of the Klingon High Council . ( ) Dominion - instigated conflicts with Cardassia and the Federation . In 2369 , the Bajoran wormhole leading to the Gamma Quadrant was discovered – a find with profound implications for the geopolitical situation including the history of the Klingon Empire . The Klingons showed an early interest in exploring the Gamma Quadrant by dispatching and freighters . The was among the first ships to explore the quadrant in an effort to establish colonies beyond the wormhole . After a Vulcan expedition discovered the Shroud of the Sword of Kahless at an ancient Hur ' q outpost in the Gamma Quadrant in 2372 , Dahar Master Kor , along with Lt . Cmdr . Dax and Worf , set out to find and retrieve the sword itself . Fighting off an attempt to steal the sword by Toral , son of Duras , the three soon realized that its symbolic power would tear the Empire apart and decided to leave it adrift in space in the Gamma Quadrant . ( ) The Federation - Klingon alliance was sorely tested in the 2370s , in the wake of the Federation ' s first contact with the Dominion , a major hegemonic power from the Gamma Quadrant . The leaders of the Dominion , the Founder s , had the express goal of conquering all of the powers of the Alpha Quadrant , in order to prevent them from ever threatening the Great Link . ( ) In late 2371 , the Dominion captured General Martok , a trusted adviser to Gowron , replacing him with a Changeling . ( ) The Changeling posing as Martok convinced Gowron that the recent civilian uprising in the Cardassian Union had been engineered and supported by the Dominion , and that the uprising heralded an imminent invasion by the Dominion into the Alpha Quadrant . To prevent this invasion from occurring , Gowron launched a massive assault against the Cardassian Empire in early 2372 . Emperor Kahless condemned the invasion , but was eventually overruled by Gowron , whose goal was to conquer all Cardassian territories to ensure that it could not be taken by the Dominion . When the Federation Council protested Gowron ' s actions , he took it as a betrayal and withdrew from the Khitomer Accords , ending the Federation - Klingon alliance . Although no declaration of official hostilities was made , a state of near - war developed between the two powers . The Klingons even launched a preemptive attack against the Federation outpost Deep Space 9 , in order to capture the remaining free members of the Cardassian Detapa Council . However , Deep Space 9 Captain Benjamin Sisko pointed out to Gowron that a war between the Federation , the Klingons , and the Cardassians was exactly what the Dominion wanted – a divided Alpha Quadrant that would be ripe for conquest in the future . Faced with this reasoning , Gowron called an end to the invasion and halted the attack against DS9 . ( ) However , peace did not return . The Federation had refused to fight alongside their allies and had actually sided against them in battle and the Klingons could not forgive or forget this transgression easily . A tense stand - off developed over the next year , with the Klingons attempting to make political inroads against both the Cardassians and the Federation to justify their offensives . ( ) Finally , in late 2372 and at the Martok Changeling ' s suggestion , Gowron demanded that the Federation relinquish claims to a number of territories along their mutual border , namely the Archanis sector , or face war . When the Federation Council refused the demands , the Empire launched an invasion with battles fought for Archanis IV , Ajilon Prime , and Ganalda IV . The was brutal , but short – only a few weeks after it began , Gowron called an end to the conflict after a Starfleet covert ops team revealed that Martok was actually a shapeshifter and the entire war had been engineered to divide the two former allies . However , some hostilities continued after Gowron ' s ceasefire and were only ended when the Dominion began its invasion of the Alpha Quadrant . ( ) The Dominion War . See main article : Dominion War When the Dominion annexed the Cardassian Union in mid - 2373 , the Klingons were quickly defeated by the Jem ' Hadar and driven from all of their Cardassian conquests . Faced with the prospect of a larger war against a much more powerful enemy , Gowron agreed to re - sign the Khitomer Accords and renew the alliance with the Federation . In addition , a detachment of Klingon soldiers was assigned to Deep Space 9 , commanded by the real Martok , who had been rescued from a Dominion internment camp . ( ) The Empire and the Federation ultimately fought side by side in the ensuing Dominion War that broke out in late 2373 . Many of the most important engagements of the war were conducted in concert , including the Second Battle of Deep Space 9 , the attack on Torros III and Operation Return . ( ) The anti - Dominion alliance gained new , unlikely allies in mid - 2374 when the Romulan Star Empire declared war against the Dominion . Although the Romulans and the Klingons both harbored deep hatred for one other , the two former enemies managed to put aside their differences , in order to successfully fight the Dominion . ( ) However , ultimate victory eventually came at a very high price . When the Breen Confederacy entered the war in late 2375 , the use of the previously - unknown energy dampening weapon effectively nullified the power of Starfleet and the Romulan forces . Klingon ships were the only ones which could be adapted immediately , but despite quickly deploying 1500 vessels the Klingons where still outnumbered twenty - to - one . Rather than fight a holding action , Gowron ordered that Martok launch a full - scale offensive against the enemy , claiming that they had the advantage of surprise . ( ) Ostensibly , Gowron hoped to achieve quick victory against the Dominion and claim all of the glory for the Empire in winning the war , without the assistance of the Federation or the Romulans . But Gowron ' s real plan was much more subversive and political . Gowron feared the growing popularity of Martok , who had commanded the Klingon forces on the front lines and was rapidly gaining heroic status among the soldiers of the Empire . Gowron hoped to reclaim some of that popularity for himself , by personally commanding the Klingon war effort from Deep Space 9 and by discrediting Martok in sending him on numerous hopeless missions . When no other Klingons protested , Worf challenged Gowron to personal combat , claiming that Gowron was a coward for jeopardizing the very existence of the Empire ( and indeed the safety of the entire Alpha Quadrant ) , in order to satisfy his need for political security . Worf killed Gowron in the fight , thus claiming the right to rule the Empire himself ; however , Worf declined the position and nominated Martok instead , who was subsequently proclaimed the new Chancellor of the Klingon High Council . ( ) Ultimately , the Empire shared in victory with the Federation and the Romulans , after the final defeat of the Dominion at the Battle of Cardassia in late 2375 , during which Chancellor Martok himself led the Klingon forces . Standing amid the ruins of Cardassia , Martok had to drink his bloodwine by himself , however , as Captain Sisko and Admiral Ross lost their thirst in the face of all the destruction and death . ( ) Section 31 estimated that the Klingons would not recover from their losses from the Dominion War until about 2385 . ( ) Alternate timelines . In the alternate reality , after the Federation learned of the existence of the Klingons , the Empire had conquered and occupied two planets and its ships had engaged in conflict with Starfleet ships numerous times . ( ) During the 23rd century , 47 Klingon Warbird s were destroyed by the " Narada " , a Romulan mining vessel from 2387 of the prime reality . received the transmission , allowing her to verify ' s suspicions that the ship was making a reappearance over . ( ) Starfleet admiral believed war with the Klingons was imminent and recruited to design ships and weapons , including the . Khan betrayed Marcus and transwarp beaming to an uninhabited region of Qo ' nos . Captain Kirk , and Uhura tried to capture him without alerting the Klingons , but were unsuccessful . Khan came to their rescue , singlehandedly killing the Klingons before submitting to the Starfleet officers . Afterwards , Marcus warned the incident would further exacerbate tensions between the Federation and Klingon Empire . ( ) In an alternate timeline , the Klingons took control of Deep Space 9 after the death of the Emissary of the Prophets Benjamin Sisko in 2372 ( because the Bajoran s interpreted this as sign against the Federation and tried to ally with the Cardassian Union ) . This timeline was avoided due to the intervention of Jake Sisko in 2422 . ( ) In Q ' s anti - time future , the Klingons had conquered the Romulan Star Empire by the late 24th century . ( ) According to ' , the Klingons ( re ) joined the Federation by the 26th century . ( ) In the mirror universe , the Klingon Empire became part of the Klingon - Cardassian Alliance , ruling the former Terran Empire with the aid of the Bajorans . ( )