Dominion history The history of the Dominion shows how the need for self - protection drove the Founder s to become masters of a suppressive empire . Beginnings . The history of the Dominion begins with the history of the Founders as recorded in the memory of the Great Link . In the past , Changeling s roamed the star s and explored the galaxy . However , while they came in peace , the Changelings were " beaten , hunted , and killed " by " solids " who feared their metamorphic abilities . According to Dominion legend , on one planet , a group of Vorta – a species of small , timid , ape - like forest dwellers living in hollowed - out trees – hid a Changeling from an angry mob , and in return the Changeling promised that one day they would be transformed into powerful beings and placed at the head of a vast interstellar empire . ( ) Following their retreat to a rogue planet inside the Omarion Nebula , the Changelings sought to ensure that they would never again be at the mercy of the solids by imposing " order upon a chaotic universe " around them . Over time , they sent out 100 infant Changelings , including Odo and Laas , in order to continue gathering information and explore . It was genetically coded into these infants for them to return around the 27th century and share what they have learned . ( ) Domination of the Gamma Quadrant . With their earlier experiences having convinced them that they had to " guide " the solids , the Changelings became the " Founders " of the Dominion , which , according to Weyoun 4 , " has endured for two thousand years " , i . e . , since the 4th century . ( ) Around the same time , the Jem ' Hadar , a species genetically engineered by the Founders specifically for warfare , became the Dominion ' s first line of defense . They were created with a god - like reverence of all Changelings as well as an innate addiction to the narcotic ketracel - white , thereby ensuring absolute dependence and obedience . ( ) The Founders also kept their promise to the Vorta , who became the Dominion ' s commanders , diplomats , civil servants and scientists . Similar to the Jem ' Hadar , their devotion was ensured by genetically implanting an identification of Changelings as gods . ( e . g . , ) In the mid - 22nd century , the Dominion encountered a space - faring race in the Teplan system . The Teplan s believed nothing was beyond their ability , including resisting the Dominion . In response , the Jem ' Hadar came and left their homeworld crushed , as an example to others . More than anything , the Dominion wanted the Teplans to bear the mark of their defiance , so they unleashed a biological weapon , establishing the disease known as the blight . ( ) Around 2340 , the Dominion annexed Yadera Prime , homeworld of the Yaderan s . According to Rurigan , this caused profound changes to the Yaderan way of life . ( ) By 2370 , the Jem ' Hadar invaded and conquered a race known as the T - Rogoran s . This allowed the escape of the Skrreea , a race of farmers who had been conquered and enslaved by the T - Rogorans for generations . ( ) Contact with the Alpha Quadrant . The first official contact between an Alpha Quadrant power and a Dominion member came about in early 2370 , when Grand Nagus Zek dispatched two Ferengi representatives to the Dosi homeworld to purchase large quantitatives of tulaberry wine . Deliberately exaggerating the demanded quantity , this was but a ploy by Zek to get into contact with the Dominion and , thus , secure commercial opportunities in the Gamma Quadrant . The Dosi eventually offered to put them in touch with the Karemma , a more important member of the Dominion , and trading relations including the purchase of tulaberry wine were soon established . ( ) The first official contact between the Dominion and the United Federation of Planets came at the end of that year , when Jem ' Hadar forces destroyed a number of ships and colonies beyond the Bajoran wormhole and took Cmdr . Benjamin Sisko as well as Quark hostage . The Jem ' Hadar claimed that the offensive , which included the destruction of the colony on New Bajor and the , was in response to incursions into their territory , but actually served as a cover to plant Eris , a Vorta spy , into the Federation . The attempt was unsuccessful , however , and Eris escaped back to the Dominion . The Dominion cold war had begun . ( ) Months later , the Federation dispatched the , including a representative of the Romulan Star Empire , to establish contact with the Founders of the Dominion by visiting Karemma . The Karemma admitted that their only contact with the Founders was through their representatives , the Vorta , but they directed the " Defiant " to an unmanned subspace relay at Callinon VII , where they had been instructed to send all inquiries . There , the Dominion captured the ship and ascertained the resistance of the major powers in the Alpha and Beta Quadrant s to a Dominion invasion through an elaborate simulation involving the captive crew - members of the " Defiant " . Based on the reactions to these simulations , which showed that Starfleet would destroy the wormhole if necessary , the Dominion adopted a more subtle approach . ( ) Changelings infiltrated various powers , including the Federation , the Klingon Empire , and the Romulan Star Empire , posing as high - ranking officials . These agents maneuvered these powers into several destructive conflicts to erode their strength ( " See : Battle of the Omarion Nebula , Klingon - Cardassian War , Federation - Klingon War ( 2372 - 73 ) " ) Between 2371 and 2373 , only a few of these infiltrators were ever exposed : one posed as Ambassador Krajensky , one posed as General Martok , and another one posed as Doctor Julian Bashir . None of the four changelings on Earth could be apprehended despite sweeping security precautions . ( ) The Dominion War . In 2373 , the Dominion vastly solidified its foothold in the Alpha Quadrant by incorporating the Cardassian Union , in a pact negotiated by Gul Dukat . In the following months the Dominion sent massive numbers of ships and troops through the wormhole into Cardassian space , after the changeling posing as Bashir sabotaged the Federation ' s attempt to collapse the wormhole . In addition , the Dominion massacred the Maquis and signed nonaggression pact s with the Miradorn , the Tholian Assembly , and even opened talks with Bajor and eventually the Romulan Star Empire . Although Dominion officials claimed their convoys were meant to help rebuild Cardassian infrastructure , Starfleet Command was unconvinced and , with the Dominion rapidly making political in - roads , ordered Captain Sisko to block the Alpha Quadrant entrance to the wormhole . Open war finally broke out when Starfleet mined the entrance of the wormhole to prevent any further Dominion reinforcements from coming through . ( " See : Dominion War " ) ( ) The first part of the war , in early 2374 , was a disaster for the allied Federation and Klingon forces , which were forced into retreat on nearly all fronts . The war turned in the allies ' favor when a massive fleet of 2 , 800 Jem ' Hadar warships , which would have ensured a Dominion victory , disappeared inside the wormhole . This unexpected event allowed the recapture of the strategic starbase Deep Space 9 by the allies . The Dominion ' s situation was further worsened when the Romulan s abrogated their treaty and joined the war against them later that year . ( ) Meanwhile , the Founders and their Great Link found that they had been infected with a morphogenic virus , which threatened to destroy the very foundation of the Dominion . Despite the resources at their disposal , the Founders could not discover a cure . The Female Changeling , trapped in the Alpha Quadrant , forged an alliance with the Breen Confederacy in late 2375 to win the war before her death . However , the terms of their treaty of alliance were extremely unfavorable to the Cardassians , which finally led to a rebellion . The subsequent betrayal of the Dominion fleet by the Cardassians at the Battle of Cardassia , which came as a result of Dominion reprisals against Lakarian City , would seal defeat for the Dominion in the war . ( ) Surrounded by allied forces on Cardassia Prime , the dying Female Changeling defiantly ordered her forces to fight to the death , believing that to show weakness would lead to the solids invading the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant . Her intention was to make an example of the Cardassian homeworld , ordering her troops to begin exterminating the entire population as their fleet attempted to inflict as much damage as possible to the Federation and their allies . It was only when Odo linked with her ( and cured her of the virus ) that she eventually agreed to surrender , order the Dominion forces to stand down , and submit to trial as a war criminal . She , along with other representatives of the Dominion - Breen alliance , subsequently signs the Treaty of Bajor on Deep Space 9 , thereby officially concluding the Dominion War . Odo subsequently returned to the Great Link to cure the rest of his people , while the Female Changeling remained in the Alpha Quadrant to assume responsibility for the war . ( ) Appendices . Background information . In various interviews in ( ; ) and elsewhere , the producers have confirmed that the Dominion had been well aware of the Federation for some time prior to their " official " first contact , and that the Founder s had been laying long - term plans to deal with the perceived Federation threat . As Robert Hewitt Wolfe explains , " " The Dominion knew the Federation was out there long before the wormhole was opened , and they had plans to deal with the Federation when the Federation was projected to enter their space in two hundred years , and they were building slowly towards that , that ' s why they sent out Odo in the first place . But then the wormhole opens up and suddenly the Federation is in their backyard " today " and it just throws everything into question for both the Federation and the Dominion " . " ( " The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond " , DS9 Season 3 DVD , Special Features )