Dathomir / Legends Dathomir was an obscure planet in the Outer Rim Territories , located in the Quelii sector . It was somewhat smaller than Coruscant in size and thus a slightly - below - standard gravity . The planetary day was close to standard though the planetary year was 491 days . Dathomir had four moons . Dathomir was considered a temperate and beautiful planet by Human standards , with a varied terrain that included coastal lakes and tar - pits , thick forests and snow - capped mountain peaks , powerful rivers and broad savannas , small icecaps and dramatic rift valleys . Even under the New Republic , however , nine - tenths of the planet remained unexplored and uninhabited , with the population limited to a relatively small area along the edge of one of the three main continents , a zone of uplands and river plains bordered on one side by the unsailed ocean and on the other by vast expanses of desert . Native lifeforms . Although the two cultures most closely associated with Dathomir were the ancient spacefaring Kwa and the Human group known as the Witches of Dathomir , it should not be overlooked that the semi - sentient species at the apex of Dathomir ' s native food - chain was in fact the mighty rancor . The fact that the rancors were semi - sentient often came as a surprise to unsuspecting offworlders . It is not clear whether they had made any independent progress towards basic tokens of civilization like kindled fire or shaped tools , and their social system and lifestyle were little different from those of many nonsentient animals : matriarchal herds led by herd - mother s roamed the landscape , hunting live prey for food . But they passed on their clan histories from generation to generation , and when they formed a symbiont circle with the planet ' s Human population in the last centuries of the Galactic Republic , they adopted basic armor and weapons . Under the New Republic , Tosh , herd - mother of the rancor group , associated with the Human Singing Mountain Clan , learned to read and write , and began to pass on this skill to the other rancors of her herd . Dathomiri rancors were also larger than off - world specimens , with full - grown adults in the range of eight to ten meters tall . This extreme size can in part be attributed to the planet ' s low gravity , which allowed native trees to rise up to eighty meters tall , but it may also reflect a more general effect of the sheer vibrancy of the planet ' s biosphere . The temperate climate and varied terrain had given rise to a dramatically diverse ecosystem , thriving with so much life that the air almost seemed to sparkle in the Force . Other native fauna included the rancor ' s major prey species , the drebbin and ssurian s , as well as the burra fish , the simian pack - hunting purbole and the acid - jawed , insectile shear mite . However , several of Dathomir ' s most important species , notably Humans , had arrived on Dathomir over the millennia as the result of off - world contacts . History . Pre - Republic History . Dathomir was originally the homeworld of a spacefaring species , the reptilian Kwa . By 100 , 000 BBY , the Kwa had built an Infinity Gate — the Prime Gate in a network of similar devices , used by them as a means of interstellar travel and as superweapons . The Infinity Gate was covered by massive pyramid - shaped structures known as the Star Temple s , incorporating defensive systems to protect them from intruders . If the gate was ever activated , the planet housing the equipment could be collapsed into the Gate itself , along with the surrounding planets , moons and even suns . For reasons that are unclear , the Kwa species began to degenerate , ultimately losing the ability to speak or use technological tools . Apparently recognizing the path that their civilization was on , they sealed the Infinity Gate and the Star Temples and set guardians to protect the Temples — whuffa worm s with thick hides and an impressive turn of speed . The degenerate descendants of the Kwa came to be known as the Kwi or Blue Desert People , and like the rancors they appeared to be simple herd animals living around the planet ' s arid Great Desert ; but on occasion they still showed some surprising hints of intelligence , including a capability to create primitive tools and ornaments , and they possessed a collective memory of their former glory , and the importance of the sanctity of the Star Temples . By 36 , 453 BBY , the planet was already inhabited by a few Humans , whose origin is unknown . They were organized in tribal units with shamanistic beliefs . Some of their seers were brought on Tython in a Tho Yor ship and were among the founders of the Je ' daii Order . Around 30 , 000 BBY , Dathomir was ruled by the space - faring Rakata . Using Force - based hyperdrives , they traveled to many worlds around the galaxy that possessed significant signatures in the Force , uniting them to form the Rakatan Infinite Empire . Of Dathomir they noted the rancor , and transferred some of them to their homeworld , Lehon , as curiosities . After five thousand years of galactic dominance , the Rakata retreated to Lehon following the outbreak of a plague . Linguistic evidence shows that the native language of the planet ' s Humans derives at least in part from that of an Outer Rim hegemony known as the Paecian Empire , dating their presence on the world to about 3000 BBY , being an adjunct of the Empire ; after that the planet was then conquered by Drackmarian warlords . Around 1002 BBY , the Brotherhood of Darkness operated a Sith academy on the world that trained Sith Acolyte s and apprentices . Later Dathomiri tradition would remember the initial Human population as the exiled creators of illegal battle droid armies , but it is not clear whether the settlers arrived in a single event , or whether the planet was in more continuous use as a penal colony over a period of centuries or millennia . It cannot even be said for sure whether the Paecian exiles were leaders or enemies of their Empire . What is certain is that by 600 BBY , the planet ' s Human population had become little more than the favorite food for the rancors , reduced to hiding in the thick forests where the mighty beasts could not follow them . The Daughters of Allya . At that time , however , a rogue Jedi Knight named Allya was banished to Dathomir by the Jedi Council . She took the leadership of the survivors , teaching the ways of the Force to the exiles , and eventually to her own children . In later centuries , Allya was remembered as single - handedly transforming Dathomiri society , credited with enslaving the entire male population under her leadership , turning the rancors from predators to friends , pets and war mounts , and codifying her teachings in the Book of Law . Some accounts even seem to suppose that she was a lone woman within an otherwise entirely male population . But in reality , these practices may have evolved over several generations , and the parallel with the matriarchal social structure of the rancors may be significant , especially given the symbiosis of the Human warrior - women and their mounts ; but Allya ' s leadership undoubtedly laid the foundations of a unique culture , dominated by Force - using women who regarded themselves collectively as her descendants , known to outsiders as the Witches of Dathomir . Over the centuries , the total Human population of Dathomir grew to perhaps just over five thousand , based in a relatively narrow coastal area of one of the planet ' s continents : even under the New Republic , more than 90 % of the planet remained unexplored . The Dathomiri came to be divided into a number of reasonably permanent local clan communities , which took their names from significant geographical features such as Singing Mountain , Frenzied River , and Misty Falls . These clans , each just a few hundred strong , accounted for almost the entire planetary population , but there were also small numbers of exiles who lived outside the clan communities , including the planet ' s dark - siders , called Nightsisters , who at times existed in sufficient numbers to form a distinct clan . In total , the clans could probably put at least a thousand warrior - women into the field , each of them a trained Force - user and many of them riding rancor mounts . The strength of the Dathomiri was discovered by the Jedi Order in around 340 BBY , when the Jedi academy ship " Chu ' unthor " crashed into a tar pit on Dathomir . All attempts to retrieve the wreck were blocked by the natives , although it seems that some contacts were forged across the battle - lines : one young warrior - woman , Rell , who would survive to meet Luke Skywalker in the days of the New Republic , reminisced about Yoda as an " old flirt " . At some point , Dathomir appears to have been part of the Republic , and was classed as part of Quelii sector , but eventually , it fell into the space under the rule of the Drackmarian s — another matriarchal warrior race , but this time methane - breathing aliens , for whom the planet held little real interest . Generations prior to the Clone Wars , a small group of Iridonian Zabraks originating from Rattatak , where their ancestors had crashed in a starcruiser , were brought to Dathomir during pirate raids . When the Human Nightsisters discovered that they could interbreed with Zabraks , they isolated them to a small part of the planet where they could draw from them at whim . The Nightsisters also sold some Zabraks and Zabrak - Human hybrids ( and even some of their own ) to the Rattataki . Prior to the reign of Talzin , Nightsisters were known to utilize various male castaways for slave labor ; Talzin restricted the use of males to the Zabrak Nightbrothers . Later History . Darth Sidious visited Dathomir in 54 BBY and was approached by the Nightsister Kycina , who begged him to take away her infant son from the life of a Nightbrother . Sidious agreed , taking in the Zabrak who would soon become his apprentice , the fearsome Darth Maul . In 31 BBY , the remaining Kwi were decimated by a clan of Nightsisters during their attempt to access the secrets of the Infinity Gate . They intended to use the device to destroy Coruscant , though their plot was thwarted by the Jedi Quinlan Vos , who was able to make contact with the Kwa , and assumed the role of Temple Guardian , to redirect the deadly wave aimed at Coruscant back at the Infinity Gate . Only the scattered ruins of the Infinity Gate and the Star Temple were left , and the Kwi disappeared once more to roam the deserts . During the Clone Wars , around 21 BBY , General Grievous led an attack on the Nightsisters , in retaliation for the betrayal of Asajj Ventress and Mother Talzin . This assault led to the extermination of almost every Dathomirian Nightsister and thus resulting in the original Human Nightsisters eventually returning to prominence on Dathomir . Galactic Civil War . After the Great Jedi Purge , the fabled village of Aurilia was believed to be located somewhere on Dathomir , and it was rumored that Force - sensitive individuals , perhaps even Jedi , lived here in exile during the reign of the Galactic Empire . However , the Empire soon sent a fleet into Quelii sector to wrest territory from the Drackmarians , and Dathomir was claimed for the Empire by an officer named Zsinj , then commanding the " Victory " - class Star Destroyer " Iron Fist " . One year after the Battle of Yavin , an outbreak of the Blackwing Virus took place and a large area of land was quarantined , including an Undead Rancor . A group of spacers where eventually permitted entrance , and did several quest to keep people safe and defeat zombies , killing the Rancor mutant over time . Around 2 BBY Emperor Palpatine reestablished a penal colony for important political prisoners , while the Imperial garrison hunted the remaining Kwi to near - extinction . Around this time , Tyber Zann and Urai Fen of the Zann Consortium arrived on the planet , seeking one who could unlock a Sith holocron in Tyber ' s possession . They found an imprisoned Nightsister , Silri , capable of doing so , and freed her from an Imperial prison . The Witchblood Clan was a group of mercenaries in Dathomir , who would usually attack both Rebels and Imperials indiscriminately on the planet . Shortly after the Imperials arrived , an exile from the Singing Mountain Clan named Gethzerion began to form a new clan of Nightsisters with Imperial encouragement , but when Palpatine realized the threat they posed in the Force , he quickly placed the planet under interdiction . Two Star Destroyers were stationed in the system to prevent further contact with the surface , and Gethzerion and her clan then enslaved the stranded Imperial garrison and their prisoners . As the war with the Drackmarians continued , Quelii sector was raised to the level of an Oversector , and Zsinj became the admiral , replacing his old Victory - class SD " Iron Fist " with a new Super Star Destroyer , which he rechristened " Iron Fist " , commanding the local Sector Group one of the largest combat fleets in the Empire . After the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY he refused to recognize the authority of the Imperial Ruling Council and declared himself a Warlord , quickly coming to rival the power of both the legitimist Imperial authorities and the rising New Republic . Dathomir became key to his plans with the discovery of vast loads of the key shipbuilding metals of neutronium , lommite , and zersium on the moon Koratas , and Zsinj had Rancor Base built in orbit of the planet to exploit the world ' s resources . New Republic . Han Solo won the deed to Dathomir from Drackmarian Warlord Omogg in a game of sabacc in 8 ABY . Han ' s kidnapping of Leia Organa to the planet led to a chain of events that changed Dathomir forever . Luke Skywalker and Isolder followed Solo and Organa to Dathomir and encountered the Kwi and then the Singing Mountain Clan . The following conflict resulted in the destruction of the Nightsisters , Warlord Zsinj and Zsinj ' s orbital nightcloak . Free from the tyranny of the Nightsisters , the Dathomir entered an alliance with the New Republic , and Han Solo gave over his claim to the planet to Augwynne Djo , matriarch of the Singing Mountain Clan ; while Augwynne ' s new title as Queen of Dathomir was little more than a constitutional formality , it also ennobled her granddaughter Teneniel Djo , and enabled her to marry Isolder , with whom she had fallen in love . Several Dathomiri subsequently went on to train with Luke Skywalker at his Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 , including Kirana Ti and Damaya , but in 12 ABY , the forces of the Imperial Remnant returned to Dathomir , in the form of an expedition searching for the Infinity Gate , led by Sigit Ranth and General Vit . The Imperials overpowered the small New Republic enclave on the planet , and struck an alliance with a group of Dathomiri who styled themselves as a reborn clan of Nightsisters . Although Ranth soon departed the world when he discovered that the Infinity Gate was inoperable , General Vit and his garrison remained , tasked with imposing Imperial authority on Dathomir in alliance with the Nightsisters , investigating the Jedi artifacts on the " Chu ' unthor " , and recruiting the planet ' s Force - sensitive warriors for the service of the Empire . Over the next months , Vit and his men reconditioned the old Imperial prison facility , and began rounding up the hostile Dathomiri and incarcerating them . Soon , the Singing Mountain Clan had been imprisoned in the camp , and prison columns from the defeated Dreaming River Clan were being marched under guard to join them . At this point , a miscellaneous group of heroes and rogues arrived on the planet , including renegade special forces officer and Jedi Praxeum trainee Dal Konur , as well as Imperial Royal Guard Kir Kanos . Working together with the Dathomiri resistance , they succeeded in ousting Vit and the Imperials ; but neither the Empire nor the Nightsisters had been permanently destroyed . In 19 ABY , Brakiss arrived on Dathomir . A Force - sensitive Imperial Intelligence agent working with the faction known as the Second Imperium , he infiltrated the Great Canyon Clan and transformed them into a new group of Nightsisters , to serve as a recruiting pool for the Shadow Academy . Brakiss also engineered a social revolution , so that the new Nightsisters came to treat males as equals — adding escaped slaves from the other clans to their ranks . By 22 ABY , some Great Canyon Clan warriors , like Captain Garowyn , had already undergone thorough training at the Shadow Academy , and received commissions in the Imperial military . Later that year , however , Tenel Ka and Luke Skywalker infiltrated the Great Canyon and from there were able to reach the Shadow Academy . The clan ' s strength would be subsequently slashed by their defeat in the Second Imperium ' s attack on Yavin 4 . Galactic Alliance . By the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong War , Dathomir was once again under New Republic protection , and although the planet fell to the Yuuzhan Vong during their initial attack in 27 ABY , the invaders soon realized that the native " " Jeedai " " were going to be harder to subdue . Dathomir was never fully conquered , and after the war ' s end , Jedi Master Streen , with the help of Dathomiri Jedi Kirana Ti and Damaya , did a great deal of work on Dathomir in 30 ABY and founded a Praxeum in order to train the local witches as Jedi . In the following years , Jacen Solo came to the planet and trained in the arts of the indigenous witches . Later , Luke Skywalker and his son Ben tracked Vestara Khai to the planet and were rejoined by Han , Leia , and Allana Solo . The Jedi became involved in some affairs on the world , including a resurgent clan of Nightsisters and a proposed Sith - Nightsister alliance . Behind the scenes . The PC game " " places Dathomir in the " Quelli sector " , a misspelling of the true Quelii Sector . According to " Cracken ' s Threat Dossier " , Dathomir was admitted to the Hapan worlds , this despite the significant distance separating the two . A character in " Star Wars Galaxies " stated that Dathomir was located in the Quelii system , but with the release of " " , the system you travel to when traveling to Dathomir is called the Dathomir system . The game still presents these two conflicting pieces of information .