Columus / Legends Columus was a planet in the Core Worlds ' s Columus system and the homeworld of the Columi species . A low - gravity , geologically - stable planet , Columus lacked any geographic features and possessed a shallow soil layer , causing its native plants to form horizontal root systems . The Columi species evolved to sentience remarkably early in the history of the galaxy , achieving interstellar travel by the year 100 , 000 BBY . However , the Columi were disappointed by their failure to contact any other species with intelligence on par with their own , and they retreated to Columus and remained in isolation on their homeworld . Around 24 , 500 BBY , during the First Great Schism , Columus was the site of the pivotal Battle of Columus between the Jedi Order and the Legions of Lettow , a battle in which the Legions ' leader General Xendor was slain . Columus later joined the Galactic Republic and its successor state the Galactic Empire , though the Columi ' s decision to join the Empire was motivated by a desire to maintain their isolation . Description . Columus was a planet in the Columus system of the Core Worlds and the homeworld of the Columi species . A planet with extremely low gravity , Columus was geologically stable — a property that prevented the formation of mountains , rifts , or other similar geographic features , and gave the planet a low atmospheric pressure . As a result , Columus was a flat , muddy planet with weak winds and a shallow soil layer . Because of the lack of erosion , water settled into the soil , though the bedrock of the planet had relatively few cracks . Despite this , the plant life of Columus developed in an immense variety . The planet ' s larger plants and trees developed root systems that extended horiontally through the soil , covering wide areas and providing themselves a solid support structure . Columus was covered by swamps and forests , and the cities of the Columi , among them Bailee , rose above the treetops on pylons and were dependent on heavily automated factories . History . Thousands of years before 100 , 000 BBY , a species of four - legged herbivorous lizards with a buoyant belly evolved to walk on their hind legs on Columus . A few thousand years later , those herbivores began to lay their eggs in trees in order to protect them from predators , and the Columi began to live entirely in trees shortly afterward . They developed hands instead of claws and a prehenisle tail , and they soon learned to use tools after only a few centuries . The Columi underwent a series of rapid evolutionary changes over the next few thousand years , losing their tails and becoming truly sentient , and they began to mine metals and other materials so they could build cities , becoming a technological civilization . Over the next several thousand years , the Columi advanced their technology to the point where they were capable of interstellar travel by the year 100 , 000 BBY . Shortly afterwards , the Columi visited a number of planets — including Coruscant and Duro , the homes of the Human and Duros species , but they returned to Columus in disappointment because they considered the species they had encountered to be too primitive . The Columi soon gave up interstellar travel and remained on Columus , content to remain in isolation . Around 25 , 000 BBY , Human scientists from Corellia developed the modern hyperdrive , linking Corellia , Coruscant , Alderaan , Columus , and many other Core Worlds together . Around 24 , 500 BBY , Columus was the site of the Battle of Columus during the First Great Schism between the Jedi Order and the Legions of Lettow , a group of Dark Jedi . Nearly thirty Dark Jedi , including the Legion ' s leader , General Xendor , attempted to trap a number of Jedi in one of Columus ' rare ravines , and both groups annihilated each other — though the Jedi Awdrysta Pina escaped after killing Xendor , the only other survivor , a Padawan named Danzigorro Potts , recorded his thoughts on the battle in what later became known as the Columus Data Card before he died on the plains of Columus . Around 22 BBY , the Columus Tourist Board started a marketing campaign that extolled the health benefits of Columus ' low - gravity environment to severely overweight beings . However , a number of health officials , including Doctor Gidoo Zehow of the Rhinnal State Medical Academy , criticized the campaign and presented evidence that their claims were false . Columus was one of four planets , with the others being Khomm , Lur , and Arkania , that were exempt from Decree E49D139 . 41 , which prohibited all non - military cloning of sentients during the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems ; Columus was permitted to continue therapeutic medical cloning with the appropriate license . When the Galactic Empire replaced the Republic as the primary government in 19 BBY , the Columi quickly passed a resolution to entier the Empire in order to maintain their isolation , though some Columi departed their homeworld to join the Alliance to Restore the Republic or to become criminals . The Imperial sentientologist Obo Rin claimed in his " Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy " that the Empire had made first contact with the Columi on Columus , as he did with the Mon Calamari species of Dac . In 17 ABY , Imperial Admiral Natasi Daala attacked the New Republic as part of an campaign by the Imperial Remnant . However , her forces were routed by the New Republic Fourth Battle Group under Garm Bel Iblis . Daala attacked Bel Iblis at Columus , though her forces were routed again and her own warship forced into a blind hyperspace jump . Inhabitants . The primary inhabitants of Columus were the Columi , who ruled their homeworld in a participatory democracy — every Columi had an equal voting share in the Columi government . The Columi lived in their extensive cities atop pylons in the forests of Columus . Behind the scenes . The " " mistakenly labels an image of the Battle of Columus as Corbos , which was the site of a battle in the Hundred - Year Darkness .