Bajoran history Stretching back hundreds of thousands of years , Bajoran history is the story of a spiritual people shepherded by supernatural beings . Their mettle was tested as outsiders took an interest in their resources and strategic location . Early history . Bajoran civilization began to flourish more than 500 , 000 years ago . The ancient Bajorans were renowned for their accomplishments in science , mathematics , philosophy , and the art s long before Human s learned to speak or make tool s . ( ) By 30 , 000 years ago , non - corporeal lifeform s known as the " Prophet s " began influencing Bajoran society . They described themselves as " of Bajor " , and were worshipped as god s by the Bajorans . The Prophets had enmity for a group of fellow non - corporeals called the " Pah - wraith s " . One of each were sealed together in a stone tablet in a city that was abandoned 5 , 000 years later . Here , the beings would be imprisoned for tens of thousands of years , awaiting an important religious figure described as the . In time , the Bajorans constructed magnificent cities centered around " bantaca " spires , obelisk s that indicated a city ' s location in the cosmos . Among them was the sacred city of B ' hala , which was built on the ruins of the abandoned city of the stone tablet . B ' hala itself would become a legend , however , as its location became lost to history around 20 , 000 years ago . Around the same time , the Peldor Festival was introduced , a tradition which would be continued to the 24th century . ( ) Approximately 10 , 000 years ago , the first of the Tears of the Prophets was discovered above Bajor . Over the years , eight more of these orb - like artifacts appeared and ushered in a new era of spiritual connection between the Bajorans and the Prophets . Around the same time , Bajoran archaeologist s began their search for the famed city of B ' hala , which would , however , not be rediscovered until the 24th century . Bajoran religious development also included " prophecies " issued by spiritual writers such as Shabren , Talnot , Trakor , and Zocal . Trakor lived approximately 630 BC and was inspired by encounters with the third orb to be discovered . By the 6th century , Bajorans also manufactured mandalas as religious tokens . ( ) By the 16th century , Bajorans had developed sublight space travel employing solar - sail spacecraft called " lightships " . Exploring their star system , Bajoran space travelers stumbled upon tachyon eddies , which accelerated their lightships beyond the speed of light and enabled them to reach the Cardassian system five light year s away . Although this was evidenced by ancient crash sites of Bajoran lightships uncovered on Cardassia Prime , their discovery would not be disclosed by the Cardassian government until 2371 , when a faithful reenactment proved the feasibility of such a journey . ( ) In the mid to late 17th century , it would be the last time until 2375 that the " Book of the Kosst Amojan " , an ancient tome considered highly dangerous , was removed from the Bajoran Central Archives . As it contained detailed instructions on how to release the Pah - wraiths in the Fire Caves , access to the book was restricted to the Kai alone . ( ) During the 22nd century , Bajorans traveling through their star system unknowingly made the first observations of the home of the Prophets , called " Celestial Temple " , a stable wormhole located in the Denorios Belt , an area between the ninth and tenth planets of the Bajoran system . Kai Taluno reported a sighting of what would later be known as the wormhole , when his ship was " almost swallowed by the heaven s " near the Denorios Belt . In the Bajoran year 9174 ( late 22nd century ) , Akorem Laan , regarded as one of the planet ' s greatest poet s at the time for works such as " Gaudaal ' s Lament " , departed Bajor in a lightship . His vessel was damaged in an ion storm , and drifted into the Denorios Belt , where he opened and entered the yet unknown wormhole and would stay with the Prophets until 2372 . ( ) By the beginning of the 24th century , Bajorans had established off - world colonies , e . g . , Golana . By the 2370s , Bajoran colonies would include outlying planet s such as Dreon VII , but also worlds within the Bajor system , e . g . , Jeraddo and Bajor VIII . ( ) Despite its high state of development , the Bajoran civilization continued to separate itself into nation - like factions as evidenced by the Paqu - Navot Treaty of 2279 , which defined the border between two of them . Until the Occupation by Cardassia , Bajoran society also followed a strict system of caste s known as " D ' jarra s " . It created a clearly stratified social hierarchy by pre - determining each Bajoran ' s occupation based on his or her family . Gul Dukat would even remark that , until the Cardassians arrived , the Bajorans were " a weak , contemplative race , choking on [ their ] isolation . " ( ) The Occupation . Around 2319 , Bajor ' s neighbor , the imperialistic Cardassian Union , established a military presence on the planet as it considered the Bajoran homeworld to be underdeveloped but rich in natural resources . In 2328 , this Occupation of Bajor ( or simply called " the Occupation " ) also led to the formal annexation of Bajor by the Cardassians , who claimed to " help and develop " their neighbor . Despite their high state of cultural development , Cardassian technology was approximately 100 years ahead of Bajor , explaining why the planet ' s population surrendered without any serious resistance at first . ( ; ) During the Occupation , the Cardassians installed the Bajoran Occupational Government , a puppet of the Cardassian Central Command intended to lend legitimacy . Some Bajorans came to terms with the situation and even collaborated with the occupiers , and public life continued in some fashion including the opening of new businesses and the existence of cultural infrastructure such as the Bajoran Springball Association . The harsh reality , however , was that the Cardassians perpetrated a coordinated scheme of strip - mining , forced labor , and genocide across the planet , with the Gallitep labor camp under Gul Darhe ' el being one of the most infamous examples . Less obvious misdeeds included stealing all but one of the Tears of the Prophets , the suppression of Bajoran religion by outlawing religious teaching , medical experiments on Bajoran subjects , like those conducted by Dr . Crell Moset , as well as Bajoran comfort women for Cardassian officers , who essentially represented a form of sexual slavery . ( ; ) In order to keep the Bajorans in line , Central Command installed a prefect to oversee the planet . The last person to hold this post was the now - infamous Gul Dukat , who assumed office in 2346 . He euphemistically considered the Bajorans his " children " and initially attempted a gentle approach by cutting labor camp output quota s and other benevolent measures . As it became clear that the oppressed Bajorans were not interested in his " charity " , Dukat oversaw the occupation with an iron fist and , in 2360 , assumed command of Terok Nor , an orbital uridium - ore processing station , which had been constructed by Bajoran slave labor between 2346 and 2351 . ( ) Over time , the Occupation gave rise to the fierce Bajoran Resistance , which was organized into small cells operating mostly independently from each other on - and off - Bajor . The Resistance used guerrilla as well as terror tactics , which eventually forced the Cardassians to withdraw , but also included radical sects like the Kohn - Ma , who would not even shy away from devising and deploying lethal biological weapon s . While several noteworthy Resistance fighters like Kira Nerys , Lenaris Holem , Li Nalas , Shakaar Edon , or Surmak Ren would become high - ranking officials in the post - occupation Bajoran society , some like Orta or Tahna Los would continue to operate out of the legal system . ( ) Formed less than two years after the end of the Occupation , many Bajorans willing to continue the fight against Cardassia would also join the Maquis , a rogue organization operating mostly along the Federation - Cardassian border and determined to resist the stipulations of the Federation - Cardassian Treaty . Some Bajorans also managed to flee their homeworld to join the Federation Starfleet , which was eager to incorporate Bajorans as a political statement towards Cardassia and was even said to give applicants the benefit of the doubt during exams . A great number of Bajorans who fled the occupation , though , settled on planets all over the known galaxy , but almost everywhere they remained separated from other peoples , living under the poorest circumstances in refugee camp s like those on Valo II . ( ; ; ) Independent Bajor . Orientation and recovery . After 50 years of occupation and over 10 million Bajoran casualties , the Cardassians finally withdrew from Bajor in 2369 , no longer willing to fight the relentless terrorism of the Bajoran Resistance . The withdrawal was strongly opposed by Gul Dukat , the last prefect of Bajor . In their retreat , the Cardassians devastated Bajoran infrastructure and poisoned vast tracts of farmland , threatening a humanitarian catastrophe . The Bajoran Provisional Government was formed in the wake of the Occupation , but few had confidence that it would survive . Internecine conflicts suppressed during the Occupation – such as between the Paqu and Navot nations – soon began to flare again , but Kai Opaka , Bajor ' s religious leader , was instrumental in preventing civil war and keeping Bajoran society from falling apart . ( ) Aside from reconstruction - related issues , such as enforcing new building codes and discussing the irrigation of the Trilar Peninsula , the new Provisional Government made some decisive early decisions . It issued the Ilvian Proclamation , which exiled all Occupation - era collaborator s , e . g . , Kubus Oak , from Bajor on the one hand , and also set free Bajorans , who were imprisoned during the Occupation for committing a murder against a Cardassian on the other hand . Anti - Cardassian sentiment was also rampant among the general population as evidenced by the racist murder of Aamin Marritza , who assumed the identity of the infamous Gul Darhe ' el and deliberately brought about his detention by the Bajorans in order to give them a sense of satisfying justice – an offer initially welcomed by Minister of State Kaval . Although Marritza ' s true identity was revealed , he was stabbed to death by a Bajoran . In contrast to these events , Bajorans attended to or even adopted Cardassian war orphan s , who were deliberately left behind when the Occupation ended . ( ) Most importantly , though , the Provisional Government requested the United Federation of Planets as a protector power and to assist in the rebuilding of Bajor . Both governments established joint control of Terok Nor , a former Cardassian space station orbiting Bajor , which they renamed Deep Space 9 . While the station officially became a Bajoran installation , it would be commanded by Starfleet aside a Bajoran liaison officer , a post first filled by former Resistance fighter Major Kira Nerys . Kai Opaka declared Deep Space 9 ' s new Human Commander , Benjamin Sisko , whose long - term task also was to prepare Bajor for Federation membership , to be the long - awaited Emissary of the Prophets . Ushering in a new era of trade but also strategic importance and danger for the Bajor system , Sisko fullfilled one of the prophecies as Emissary shortly after by ( re - ) discovering the " Celestial Temple " , a nearby wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant and home of the Prophets , to whose mouth Deep Space 9 was subsequently moved . Over the following two years , Federation assistance to Bajor included the reconstruction of its aqueduct system , tapping into the molten core of the Bajoran moon Jeraddo as a new major energy source , and offering some 3 million Skrreea refugees from the Gamma Quadrant , who initially sought asylum on Bajor , a new planet to colonize . ( , ) Despite its benefits for Bajor , the alliance with the Federation remained uneasy at first , as many Bajorans , including former resistance groups such as the radical Kohn - Ma , thought that the interests of the two powers should be kept separate . Certain religious representatives such as Vedek Winn Adami were also skeptical of Cmdr . Sisko , a " non - believer " , to be declared the Emissary of the Prophets . She also publicly denounced Federation - inspired school curricula identifying the Prophets as mere " wormhole aliens " and instructed the Vedek Assembly to refuse Sisko ' s request to discuss the matter . The anti - Federation sentiment grew , even causing a bomb attack on Deep Space 9 ' s school in late 2369 , and would be exploited by the Bajoran anti - alien Alliance for Global Unity in early 2370 . This Alliance , also known as the " Circle " , denounced the Federation presence aboard Deep Space 9 as another form of occupation and was secretly led by high - ranking Minister Jaro Essa , who sought to dismantle the Provisional Government and install himself as the new leader of Bajor . After sidelining his biggest competitor Li Nalas , who was recently freed from a Cardassian labor camp , Jaro garnered the support of other officials to attempt a full - scale " coup d ' etat " : Vedek Winn , who he promised the position of Kai , as well as General . With Krim ' s help , the Circle managed to instigate anti - alien / anti - Federation riots on Bajor and to order Starfleet to withdraw from Deep Space 9 . However , after it was discovered that the Circle was secretly being supplied with weapons by the Kressari , who turned out to be middlemen for a Cardassian attempt to regain influence over Bajor by ousting the Federation , the coup quickly lost support , namely Vedek Winn and General Krim , and was quickly put down . ( ) Political stabilization . After this incident , the Bajoran political situation stabilized despite some internal power struggles due to Winn Adami ' s ongoing strife for more power . After Kai Opaka went missing in the Gamma Quadrant in mid - 2369 , Winn became the new Kai in 2370 by blacken and ousting her favored rival candidate Vedek Bareil Antos . This was possible due to Bareil protecting Kai Opaka ' s legacy by falsely claiming that it had been his and not Opaka ' s radical and questionable decision to sacrifice 43 Bajoran Resistance fighters in order to save the lives of thousands during the Occupation . Exploiting Bareil ' s unbroken loyalty and devotion to the position of the Kai , Winn would also try to take false credit for negotiating the Bajoran - Cardassian Treaty by her own the following year . ( ) Although a certain sense of pragmatism had already motivated some limited cooperation several months earlier , when the Bajoran Chamber of Ministers agreed to hand over three Cardassian dissidents – Natima Lang , Rekelen and Hogue – to the Cardassian Union in exchange for the release of a half - dozen Bajoran prisoners , the Bajoran - Cardassian relationship was still characterized by distrust as of 2371 . This became evident when the Bajoran government expressed concern toward Cmdr . Sisko about Elim Garak , a Cardassian citizen in exile , who still resided on Deep Space 9 . Some Ministers in the government called for Garak ' s removal from the station but relented after Sisko demonstrated Garak ' s strategic value when he sent him to rescue Major Kira Nerys from the Obsidian Order on Cardassia Prime . Soon after , the conclusion of talks in mid - 2371 for the Bajoran - Cardassian Treaty finally marked an important step towards normalizing the relationship . Despite Kai Winn ' s claims , it was accomplished by Vedek Bareil over the course of 5 months and even cost his life as he refused necessary medical treatment in order to finish the negotiations in time . The first joint Federation - Bajoran - Cardassian effort under the new peace treaty , called the Wormhole Comm Relay Project , was to create a Gamma Quadrant relay station to aid communications through the Bajoran wormhole aka the Celestial Temple . Although Kai Winn and the Vedek Assembly approved the project , Vedek Yarka quoted Trakor ' s Third Prophecy when accusing the participating Cardassian scientists , Ulani Belor , Gilora Rejal , and Dejar , to be " three vipers that would destroy the Celestial Temple " . Although Dejar was indeed exposed by Ulani Belor as an Obsidian Order operative , who , as it turned out , was not only tasked with surveillance but to undermine Bajoran - Cardassian relations by sabotaging the entire project , the Wormhole Comm Relay was successfully completed . ( ) In late 2371 , Kai Winn ' s ambitions for more power reached a preliminary climax when she was appointed as interim head of government after the incumbent First Minister of Bajor , Kalem Apren , died of heart failure . Without any serious rival candidate , she hoped to permanently unite Bajor ' s two most important positions as Kai and First Minister in her person and immediately sought to increase her popular approval by initiating a program to grow cash crops in Rakantha Province . However , the required soil reclamator s were still in use by a group of farmers around former resistance fighter Shakaar Edon , whose refusal to prematurely return the equipment escalated into an armed guerrilla conflict . After the pursuing militia , commanded by fellow ex - resistance fighter Lenaris Holem , joined the rebels , Shakaar ' s defiance toward Winn gained him immense popularity , eventually forcing Winn to grudgingly support his bid to become new First Minister , which Shakaar subsequently did . He then visited Deep Space 9 in mid - 2372 to negotiate Bajor ' s admittance into the Federation . Although he criticized the Federation ' s inherent self - righteousness , First Minister Shakaar pushed to cut in half the time Bajor would have to wait to become a member – a longing he believed to be an effect of 50 years of Cardassian occupation . Despite slow negotiations and two attempts on Shakaar ' s life by the True Way , a Cardassian terrorist movement opposing its government ' s rapprochement towards Bajor and the Federation , the talks were successfully concluded . This aforementioned rapprochement had become evident with the Klingon - Cardassian War , a conflict that started earlier that year and was instigated by a hegemonic power from the Gamma Quadrant , called Dominion . The war not only caused a cessation of the Federation - Klingon alliance but also urged the Cardassian Union , which suddenly found itself the victim of aggression and in a dire strategic position , to pursue any available outside support . Shakaar managed to convince Major Kira to attend the Korma Conference , where Bajor was to share intelligence on the Klingons with Cardassian representatives despite some concerns of the Federation , which were expressed by instructing Kira not to share any sensitive information Starfleet had previously given to the Bajorans . Any compunctions Starfleet and Major Kira had were premature , however , as a Klingon ship had already destroyed the venue upon Kira ' s arrival , killing all attendees including 15 Bajorans . ( ) Delay of Federation membership and Dominion War . Bajor ' s petition for Federation membership was eventually accepted in 2373 . However , on the eve of the signing ceremony on Deep Space 9 , Captain Sisko , the Emissary of the Prophets , received a series of " pagh ' tem ' far " predicting disaster for Bajor unless " it stood alone " . As a result , the Chamber of Ministers voted to delay the acceptance of Federation membership . Sisko was later confronted by Admiral Charlie Whatley , who asked Sisko to contact the Chamber of Ministers and convince them that he was mistaken , but Sisko refused . ( ) Another minor Bajoran - Federation estrangement occurred later that year , when the Bajoran government declined to intervene when arms dealer Hagath and his associates sold weapons within the Bajoran system . Hagath had previously supplied the Bajoran Resistance , and it was felt that Bajor , at least partially , owed its freedom to Hagath and people like him . ( ) After the Cardassian Union joined the Dominion in mid - 2373 , quickly driving out the Klingons as well as the Maquis , a major war with the Dominion was on the horizon . Now , the Emissary ' s earlier intervention allowed a neutral stance for Bajor , which , following Sisko ' s endorsement , even signed a nonaggression pact with the Dominion . This saved Bajor from coming under foreign occupation when war broke out and Deep Space 9 was quickly captured by Dominion - Cardassian forces , who were officially , though compulsorily , " welcomed " into Bajoran space by Major Kira on behalf of the Bajoran government . ( ) In early 2374 , during the first months of the Dominion War , Bajor was cut off from all interstellar trade , leading to economic hardship and supply shortfalls . With no one else to turn to , the Bajoran government allowed the Dominion to send 400 Vorta facilitators to Bajor to provide technical assistance . Soon after , the Cardassians gifted fifteen industrial replicator s to Bajor as a gesture of friendship . The Bajorans also gained a voice on Deep Space 9 through Odo , formally a member of the Bajoran militia , who became part of the station ruling council along Gul Dukat and Weyoun . These events were controversial amongst the Bajorans , many of whom feared that they legitimized the Dominion presence in the system and would lead to the erosion of Bajoran sovereignty . Protestors such as Vedek Yassim openly denounced cooperation with the Dominion , and eventually a resistance movement arose on Deep Space 9 including Major Kira , Sisko ' s son Jake , and a Ferengi member of the Bajoran station crew , Rom . When the latter was exposed , Major Kira went to the Council of Ministers , asking them to lodge a formal protest against the planned execution of Rom . As Weyoun previously pointed out that such a protest would fall on deaf ears , Rom was freed by force and subsequently became crucial in enabling the Federation - Klingon alliance to recapture Deep Space 9 during Operation Return by sabotaging the station ' s weapons . This , in turn , prevented from being destroyed before it could enter the wormhole , where he pleaded with the Prophets to save Bajor , who then simply made 2 , 800 Dominion ships coming in from the Gamma Quadrant as reinforcements disappear . ( ) Despite the limited Bajoran military capabilities , Deep Space 9 , with its location by the wormhole , became the strategically most important installation for the Federation Alliance . Both the Klingon Empire as well as the Romulan Star Empire , which joined the Alliance in late 2374 , established contact offices on the station and First Minister Shakaar received briefings on the war . In early 2375 , the Bajoran Government granted the Romulan s permission to build a military hospital on the uninhabited Bajoran moon Derna . However , an attempt by the Romulans to arm the hospital with plasma torpedo es precipitated a crisis among the Allies . The Bajorans blockade d Derna and demanded that the Romulans remove the weapons , nearly leading to hostilities until Senator Cretak relented under Federation pressure . The war was finally brought to an end in late 2375 , when the Federation Alliance successfully attacked Cardassia Prime and took the Dominion representative for all forces in the Alpha Quadrant into custody . Soon after , the Bajoran Republic was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Bajor on Deep Space 9 , which formally concluded the conflict . ( ) Meanwhile , Kai Winn still sought ways to expand her power and allied herself with Dukat , who was posing as a Bajoran Farmer and had started to become obsessed with the Pah - wraiths the previous year , even declaring himself their " Emissary " . In late 2374 , he had already become possessed by the Wraiths , causing the temporary sealing of the Celestial Temple amongst others . Many Bajorans interpreted this as a sign , which resulted in a short - lived spread of the Cult of the Pah - wraiths until Sisko was able to re - open the wormhole with the help of the newly discovered Orb of the Emissary in early 2375 . Later that year , feeling betrayed by the Prophets , Winn joined Dukat in his quest to unleash the Wraiths by learning the secrets from the " Book of the Kosst Amojan " . During their failed attempt to apply those secrets in the Fire Caves on Bajor , Dukat killed Winn , who rediscovered her faith for the Prophets – and their Emissary – during her last moments . After the Emissary of the Prophets , i . e . , Sisko , arrived at the scene , he engaged Dukat , dragging him as well as the " Book of the Kosst Amojan " along when plunging into the fires . While the book incinerated and Dukat joined the Pah - wraiths in their now unbreakable imprisonment , Sisko joined the Prophets in the Celestial Temple but promised his wife to return " in a year , or maybe . . . yesterday " . Although Vedek Ungtae was quickly rumored to be a likely candidate to replace the deceased Kai Winn , the absence of the Emissary and the defeats of the Pah - wraiths , the Cardassians , as well as the Dominion , left Bajor in a position to choose its path in interstellar history . ( ) Timeline . Numbers of years are referenced to the late 24th century . Appendices . Apocrypha . " Provenance of Shadows " has James T . Kirk and the making first contact with the Bajorans in 2270 . The Pocket DS9 novel " Unity " depicts Bajor joining the Federation in 2376 , despite an attempt by parasitic being s to prevent this by assassinating Prime Minister Shakaar . In the video game " Star Trek Online " Bajor ' s renewed application to join the Federation was accepted in 2384 . In 2392 , a Bajoran candidate was considered an outside choice in the Federation presidential race . Bajor attained full membership in 2393 and by 2409 , Kira had become Kai .