Vulcan history The history of the Vulcans encompasses a long journey from the ancient civil war s that nearly destroyed , to their embracing of logic through the teachings of Surak . Origins . According to Vulcan mythology , all creation arose from a " Garden of Eden " - like place known as " Sha Ka Ree " . ( ) One possible scientific explanation for the origin of Vulcans came to light in 2268 , with the discovery of Sargon and his people . When Sargon explained that his people had colonized many worlds in the galaxy half a million years ago , Spock theorized that Vulcan might have been such a colony world . According to Spock , " " That would tend to explain certain elements of Vulcan prehistory . " " ( ) In 2369 , evidence was discovered which 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 seeded many worlds with a DNA code to guide evolution to a form resembling their own . As Romulan s , a Vulcan offshoot , displayed evidence of these DNA sequences , Vulcans were implied to have originated from those ancient genetic seeds . ( ) " Proto - Vulcan humanoid s " was an anthropological term that was used for the Bronze Age Mintakan s , who maintained a mostly peaceful society and possessed an aptitude for logic . ( ) Ancient history . As far as its memory goes , the Vulcan civilization had never been conquered . However , although it went back farther than that of Human s , there were still many gaps in Vulcan prehistory . The Obelisks of ancient Vulcan were lost for many years but were an important archaeological discovery when they were finally excavated . ( ; ) Around 2700 BC , Vulcans were barbaric , war - like and " " nearly killing themselves off with their own passions . " " According to Spock , " " Vulcan , like Earth , had its aggressive , colonizing period ; savage , even by Earth standards . " " ( ) T ' Pol once told Hawkins , " " There was a time in the past when we were an extremely violent race . We nearly destroyed ourselves . Paranoia and homicidal rage were common . " " ( ) Some Vulcans began to mentally train themselves to suppress their emotions by the middle of the 3rd millennium BC , though they continued following a polytheistic religion with rompish celebrations and many deities , including gods of war , death , and peace . Although many religious holiday s of this time , like " Rumarie " , ceased to be observed over the following centuries , some rituals were preserved , e . g . , the Vulcan wedding ceremony . It remained unchanged from the " time of the beginning " at least until the 23rd century and included the " Koon - ut - kal - if - fee " , which allowed any betrothed to call a challenge to the death . During " pre - Surak " times , Vulcans also manufactured bracelet s . ( ; ; ; ; ) By the 9th century BC , Vulcans were capable of space travel and Master Haadok and others had founded the P ' Jem monastery on another planetary body . ( ) When Vulcans first went into deep space , they did not have to face as many encounters with hostile aliens as Humans did centuries later because there were fewer warp - capable species at that time . ( ) Early Vulcan space exploration included several expeditions famous enough to be taught at school s on Earth in the 22nd century . ( ) Time of Awakening . By the 4th century , Vulcan was tearing itself apart . The Vulcans ' rampant emotions , combined with a hostile warrior culture , led to many war s using terrible weapons like atomic bomb s and the Stone of Gol . But out of this emerged a philosopher named Surak , who proposed leading a life governed by logic rather than emotion . His teachings quickly spread and were recorded in the " Kir ' Shara " , finally showing Vulcan a path towards peace . Spock once commented the significance of logic for Vulcan history with the words " " We were once [ . . . ] wildly emotional , often committed to irrationally opposing points of view , leading , of course , to death and destruction . Only the discipline of logic saved my planet from extinction . " " Although his " katra " was saved , Surak himself later died of radiation sickness on Mount Seleya , which eventually became one of the most revered sites on Vulcan . ( ; ; ) However , one group still opposed allowing logic to govern their lives . " Those who marched beneath the Raptor ' s wings , " as Surak called them , fought a final war with the rest of Vulcan and were eventually forced to leave the planet , becoming the ancestors of the Debrune and the Romulan s . ( ; ; ) According to Q , it was one of Quinn ' s " self - destructive stunts " that created a misunderstanding which ignited " the hundred year war between the Romulans and the Vulcans . " ( ) Return to space . According to Soval , it took Vulcan almost " fifteen hundred years [ after the Time of Awakening , i . e . , until the 19th century ] , to rebuild and travel to the stars . " ( ) 20th and 21st centuries . According to Quark , Vulcans attained warp capability some time after 1947 . ( ) By 1957 , Vulcans had several warp - capable starship classes in use , such as the starship and . ( ) After the invention of warp drive , it took Vulcans a hundred years to design an engine capable of breaking the warp 2 barrier . ( ) By the early 20th century , Vulcan had made contact with the Tellarite s . Vulcans considered Tellarites argumentative , but " generally reliable , " and they were known to pass on Vulcan distress calls to the Vulcan High Command . ( ) Contact with the Andorian s also came during the early 20th century . According to the Vulcans , their first contact " seemed promising , " " despite their heightened emotions . " However , it was soon discovered that " they were duplicitous , " wishing to only honor " agreements that didn ' t conflict with their interests . " Soon , a border dispute – dating back to the 1950s and lasting two hundred years – began between the two powers , due to their neighboring home systems and the Vulcans being suspicious towards the Andorians ' having a territorial and militaristic nature . The Andorians felt the only thing that kept Vulcan from invading Andoria was " the threat of massive retaliation . " ( ) By the mid - 20th century , Vulcans were observing Earth and the Human civilization that inhabited it , but never made contact because they were deemed too primitive . ( ; ) The Vulcans were startled , however , by the launch of the first Human - made artificial satellite into orbit , " Sputnik " , in 1957 . Surprised that Humans were advancing towards spaceflight so quickly , Vulcan survey ships began making routine flybys through the Sol system to keep an eye on how Humans were developing . These Vulcan watchers limited their observations to remote studies from high orbit . ( ) In 2016 , a Vulcan starship encountered the Klingon s near H ' atoria , and was immediately attacked and destroyed . In all subsequent encounters , the Vulcans fired upon the Klingons on sight , earning the respect of the Klingons and paving the way for formal relations . Centuries later , Michael Burnham referred to this policy as the " Vulcan Hello " . ( ) In the early 2050s , the Vulcans dispatched a first contact mission to the Arkonian s , who had recently achieved warp capability . However , similar to the initial relations with the Andorians , the Vulcan first contact mission was soon recalled , as the Arkonians proved to be " suspicious and deceitful . " Over the following century , Arkonian distrust towards the Vulcans grew into intense hatred . ( ) Vulcans were aware of Earth ' s World War III , but they didn ' t intervene because they felt it was a local problem they should not get entangled in . ( ) In 2063 however , the Vulcans were the first to make formal contact with the Human race , when a routine scouting mission noticed Zefram Cochrane ' s first Human warp - speed flight . The survey ship followed Cochrane ' s vessel back to his base in Bozeman , Montana , to meet the man who had achieved Earth ' s first faster - than - light travel , and subsequently established formal diplomatic relations with Earth . An alliance that would last for centuries to come was formed between the two worlds , though the Vulcans initially refused to share advanced warp technology with the Humans and Vulcan historical records would later describe a " first contact with a savagely illogical race " . ( , ; ) During those years , Vulcans were sometimes seen with distrust , anger , or even violence by Humans . ( ) In the mid - 21st century , the Andorians terraformed a class D planetoid which they named Weytahn , lying at a strategic position on the frontier between the Andorian and the Vulcan system s . The Andorians refused to allow the Vulcan High Command to inspect the colony in order to search for possible threats in the form of military installations , provoking the Vulcans to forcibly evacuate the planetoid . Sometime between 2058 and 2063 , it was one of V ' Lar ' s first responsibilities to negotiate the first territorial accords between Andoria and Vulcan . In 2097 , a treaty was signed in which the Vulcans officially claimed Weytahn , which they named Paan Mokar , and a surveillance satellite was placed in orbit of the planetoid in order to enforce the accord . ( ) 22nd century . Shortly before or in 2104 , a Vulcan science vessel surveyed Berengaria VII , reporting it was home to dragon - like reptile s which , according to the report , were over two hundred meters in length and breathed fire . ( ) By the early 22nd century , Vulcan was engaged in interventionist politics . In 2122 , the ruling government of Agaron wanted to forge better relations with Vulcan and asked for assistance in combating local crime , after which the Vulcan Ministry of Security sent 109 surgically altered operatives to the planet to infiltrate various criminal organizations in order to topple them . ( ) In 2137 , Syrran rediscovered a katric ark that contained Surak ' s " katra " , which he subsequently became holder of . Syrran moved on to create the Syrranite underground movement around him , with its eventual goal to return Vulcan to the true path of pacifism and logic laid out by Surak . ( ) In 2143 , a group of " V ' tosh ka ' tur " , Vulcans who wished to no longer suppress their emotion s , left Vulcan aboard the " Vahklas " under the command of Captain Tavin . ( ) By the 2150s , Vulcan was a regional power in the Alpha Quadrant . ( , et al . ) The Vulcan High Command had rocky relationships with several species such as the Andorians , to whom relations occasionally teetered on the brink of war . ( , et al . ) Nevertheless , among the tensest relationships remained that with the Arkonians , who had developed a substantial hatred towards Vulcans since their first contact a century earlier . Arkonian destroyer captains would be wary of any ship that had even a single Vulcan on it . ( ) Vulcan had better relationships with Mazar , United Earth , and Coridan . When the Mazarite s considered their government entrenched in corruption , they asked the Vulcans for help , who then assigned V ' Lar as their ambassador to Mazar . By early 2152 , she had collected sufficient evidence against the corrupt officials , and , with the help of , returned to Vulcan . ( ) Although many Humans believed the Vulcans were holding them back from their true technological potential , e . g . , during the Warp Five program / NX Project of the 2140s , Vulcan considered Earth one if its most important allies " for over a hundred years . " ( ) As for their old Andorian adversaries , however , the Vulcan High Command stayed very alert . It maintained a highly sophisticated surveillance station close to Andoria beneath the monastery of P ' Jem in order to guarantee the safe " observation " of their " aggressive " neighbor . Using the disguise of an ancient Vulcan monastery , the facility was able to spy on the Andorian population while staying unnoticed . In 2151 , Shran , a commander in the Andorian Imperial Guard , unveiled the secret of P ' Jem with the help of the crew of the United Earth starship " Enterprise " , thereby starting Human - Andorian relations and dealing a crippling blow to Vulcan prestige . After the Andorians destroyed the monastery later that year , however , the High Command began blaming Starfleet and Sub - Commander T ' Pol , who was serving aboard " Enterprise " , for the loss of P ' Jem . This resulted not only in T ' Pol ' s mother being expelled from the Vulcan Science Academy but also in an impairment of Human - Vulcan relations , including an immediate cessation of joint fleet operations with Starfleet . ( ) Another hot spot in the cold war between Vulcan and Andoria was Coridan , a class M planet rich in dilithium ore but suffering from a civil war in the 2150s . In this conflict , rebels , backed by the Andorian Imperial Guard in violation of the Tau Ceti Accords , tried to overthrow the chancellor and her corrupt government , who was in turn supported by the Vulcan High Command , since Vulcan tried to maintain its trade partnership with Coridan . ( ) In 2152 , a new open conflict arose on Weytahn / Paan Mokar , which was reclaimed by the Andorian Empire after having been deserted for nearly sixty years . With the conflict about to escalate , Shran , who was leading the Andorian invasion forces on the planetoid , requested Captain Jonathan Archer of the " Enterprise " as a trustworthy mediator in order to negotiate a cease fire . After both sides laid down their arms , Ambassador Soval of Vulcan resumed negotiations with the Andorians . ( ) Vulcan reformation . Subsequent to the crises of P ' Jem and Paan Mokar , the High Command gained more control over civilian affairs . Furthermore , Administrator V ' Las of the High Command was also in contact with a deep - cover Romulan operative on Vulcan , who had already infiltrated the Vulcan military at some point before 2149 and was attempting to facilitate a Romulan - Vulcan reunification . Under V ' Las ' leadership , the High Command persecuted the Syrrannite sect led by Syrran and T ' Pau , who claimed that Vulcan no longer followed the true teachings of Surak . Over the centuries following the death of Surak , his teachings had been subject to numerous interpretations and possible revisions , resulting in a loss of much of the original intent . In 2154 , V ' Las falsely claimed to have proof that the Andorians were developing a weapon based on Xindi technology , and planned to invade Andoria in order to preempt this threat . For this purpose , the High Command secretly massed an attack fleet in the Regulan system , which was located inside Vulcan territory , near their border with the Andorians but outside of Andorian listening posts ' range . As these plans were developing , agents loyal to V ' Las bombed Earth ' s embassy and framed the Syrrannite T ' Pau for the act . Jonathan Archer , investigating the Syrrannites , was briefly joined with the " katra " of Surak , and re - discovered the " Kir ' Shara " , an artifact containing the original writings of Surak . During the course of the investigation , relations between Earth and Vulcan soured to the point that Vulcan ships opened fire on " Enterprise " to the horror of Minister Kuvak and the Syrrannites . After being driven from Vulcan orbit , Ambassador Soval and Commander Tucker warned the Andorians of the planned invasion , but Soval was terribly tortured when the Andorians didn ' t believe them . Eventually Soval was able to convince Shran of the impending assault and the Vulcan attack fleet lost the element of surprise ( see Battle of Andoria ) . As the battle got underway , Archer and T ' Pau brought the " Kir ' Shara " into the High Command ' s headquarters , justifying the Syrranites ' position and enabling Minister Kuvak to challenge V ' Las ' increasingly illogical behavior that was threatening war with Andor and Earth . In short order , the attack on Andoria was canceled , V ' Las deposed , and the High Command disbanded . V ' Las ' Romulan contact also departed Vulcan , although he claimed the recent events were but a delay and that the Romulan - Vulcan reunification is just a matter of time . Kuvak and T ' Pau formed a new transitional government , which promised to pursue peaceful policies and end its restrictions on Earth ' s technological development and expansion . T ' Pau said it would take years to translate all of the writing , but the discovery of the " Kir ' Shara " transformed Vulcan society , initiating a widespread return to the true teachings of Surak . ( ) As of 2154 , capital punishment still existed on Vulcan for a small number of offenses , including treason . ( ) The Coalition of Planets and the Federation . In late 2154 , Starfleet agreed to assist Andorian and Tellarite diplomats to resolve a long - standing trade dispute between them . This , as well as the prior withdrawal of their deep - cover infiltrator from Vulcan , which was forced by actions of Cpt . Archer and the " Enterprise " , caused the Romulan Star Empire to become aware of the threat posed by a closer partnership between Vulcan , Earth , and their neighbors . ( ) The Star Empire now attempted to destabilize the region and thereby precipitated the Babel Crisis , during which a secret mission by the Romulans involved the use of two Romulan drone ship s . The Romulan ships were able to camouflage themselves as various other vessels and managed to spread distrust and hostility among local powers around Vulcan . The Romulans nearly succeeded with their plans but Captain Archer of the " Enterprise " was able to settle the dispute and allied the Vulcans , Andorians , Humans , and Tellarites in their effort to find the drone ships . Due to the recent disbanding of the High Command , many Vulcan vessels no longer had full crew compliments , which is why Minister T ' Pau was able to dispatch only 23 vessels . Nevertheless , Archer ' s newly forged alliance was able to hunt down and destroy the drone ships , thereby altering the result of this Romulan mission to the exact opposite of what it was intended to achieve . ( ) With the averted escalation of the Babel Crisis , Vulcan , Earth and other worlds realized the value of their joint work and were convening a conference in 2155 to discuss the founding of a Coalition of Planets . The conference was disrupted by a Human isolationist movement called " Terra Prime " , which managed to garner short - term support amongst the populace and instigate protests outside the Vulcan Compound - both of which were described as troubling by Soval , the Vulcan representative at the conference . After Terra Prime ' s activities were ended , Cpt . Archer resumed the conference with a passionate speech for joint exploration , thereby earning the applause of all delegates , including Soval . ( ) Several participating species at that conference became welded together in 2156 , when the conflict with the Romulan Star Empire escalated into the Earth - Romulan War . A humiliating defeat of the Romulans by an alliance of Vulcan , Earth , Andorian and Tellarite forces at the Battle of Cheron in 2160 effectively ended the war and led to the establishment of the Romulan Neutral Zone between the two power blocs . ( ; ) In 2161 , one year after the Earth - Romulan War was decided , the old war allies , with the consent of the Vulcan Council , founded the United Federation of Planets in San Francisco , on Earth . ( ; ; ) 23rd century . Iloja of Prim , a Cardassian serialist poet active during the in the 23rd century , had to spend an exile on Vulcan , where he met the joined Trill Tobin Dax . ( ) In the mid - 23rd century , a Vulcan science mission discovered a subspace rupture in the Hanoli system . The Vulcans attempted to seal the rupture with a pulse wave torpedo , but instead caused the rupture to expand exponentially . The entire star system , including the Vulcan mission , was wiped out . ( ) In the 2230s , a Vulcan faction known as the logic extremist s bombed the Vulcan Learning Center in an attempt to kill Michael Burnham , a Human child who was studying there . The extremists opposed Vulcan participation in the Federation and the integration of aliens , particularly Humans , into Vulcan society . The faction continued to exist as late as 2256 , when a logic extremist named V ' Latak attempted to assassinate Burnham ' s adoptive father , Ambassador Sarek . Nevertheless , Vulcan remained an integral part of the Federation during the Federation - Klingon War of 2256 as exemplified by the services of individuals like Admiral Terral , but also Sarek . ( ) His quick and logical responses during debates ( such as with Tellarite Ambassador Gav ) brought Sarek recognition . He was even asked to come out of retirement to represent Vulcan at the Babel Conference in 2268 , where his government strongly promoted Coridan ' s admission to the Federation . Over the following decades , he served as a personal adviser to the Federation President and was involved in the Khitomer Accords . ( ; ; ; ) By the second half of the 23rd century , there were Starfleet vessels with entirely Vulcan crews , e . g . , the , and Vulcan merchant s were a common sight in and around Federation space . ( ) In contrast to these examples of involvement , T ' Pau had become the only individual who had ever turned down a seat on the Federation Council by 2267 . ( ) " In the alternate reality created by Nero ' s temporal incursion , the planet was destroyed in 2258 , rendering the Vulcan race an " endangered species . " Over the next year , Spock led the survivors in the colonization of New Vulcan . " ( ; ) On a less than positive light , Ambassador Kamarag called Vulcans the " intellectual puppets of the Federation , " while arguing before the Federation Council in 2286 . Seven years later , the daughter of the Klingon Chancellor , Azetbur , underlined this posture by calling the Federation a " " Homo Sapiens " - only club . " ( ; ) 24th century . By the 24th century , Vulcan remained one of the principal Federation members , and was deeply involved in all levels of that society . By 2366 , the Vulcans had a saying , known to the Federation : " " We ' re here to serve . " " ( ; ) A good example of this attitude is the Treaty of Alliance , which finally established a firm friendship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire , and whose drafting and negotiation during the first half of the century is mainly attributed to Sarek of Vulcan and his son , Spock . ( ; ; ) Vulcans were also highly integrated in the command structure of Starfleet , namely with high - ranking officers like Rear Admiral s Savar and Sitak . ( ; ) As had already been the case in the 23rd century , some Starfleet vessels had entirely , or almost entirely , Vulcan crews – for example , the and the . ( ; ) In 2368 , a renewed attempt at a Vulcan - Romulan reformation / reunification almost resulted in an invasion of Vulcan . It began when Ambassador Spock went to Romulus because the new Proconsul Neral convinced him to be ready for opening formal relations with Vulcan . However , this form of " cowboy diplomacy " was in no way authorized by the Federation Council or Starfleet . It soon turned out to be a Romulan attempt to gain a foothold within the Federation by using the underground Romulan - Vulcan reunification movement as a cover . The incident culminated in Romulan forces entering Federation space aboard Vulcan transport vessels and moving towards Vulcan under a guise of peace . However , their cover was exposed and the Romulans destroyed their own forces , while they were heading back to Romulan space . ( ) Despite this setback , Spock stayed on Romulus , continuing to work for a rapprochement between Vulcans and Romulans over the following two decades . ( ; ) After the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole in 2369 , Vulcans were at the forefront of exploration in the Gamma Quadrant . Upon encountering the Wadi , a Vulcan ship was the first to make formal contact with a civilization from that region of the galaxy . ( ) Vulcan science ships later encountered the Rakhari and found the remains of the Hur ' q civilization . ( ) Unfortunately , the Bajoran wormhole did not only bring scientific possibilities for the Federation and especially Vulcan , but also the Dominion threat . In late 2373 , the Dominion War broke out and , during its early month s , the Fifth Fleet had to fight Dominion forces near Vulcan . ( ) When Betazed fell in 2374 it meant a direct threat to Vulcan , a danger which became even more grave as the Dominion began building up its forces on the newly conquered world later that year . ( ) However , the danger to Vulcan never materialized as the Dominion War ended in late 2375 with the Federation Alliance emerging victorious . ( ) In 2387 , Ambassador Spock ' s efforts to facilitate an eventual Romulan - Vulcan reunification came to an abrupt end , when Romulus was destroyed by a nearby supernova . Although Spock could not prevent the destruction of Romulus , he attempted to prevent the supernova from spreading further by creating a red matter singularity which , however , also pulled him and the pursuing Romulan mining ship " Narada " into an alternate reality . ( )