Gardulla Besadii the Elder

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**Gardulla the Elder**, better known as a Hutt **Gardulla Besadii**, was a feminine-natured wily crime lord who was a member of the shadowy Hutt Council, Gardulla was the original owner of slaves Shmi and Anakin Skywalker, but lost them betting with the junk dealer Watto. Gardulla Besadii the Elder vied for total control of Tatooine in the final centuries before the end of the Galactic Republic. She watched her former slave Skywalker's victory in the Boonta Eve Classic alongside Jabba. Years later, Gardulla and the Council hired Cad Bane to free Ziro the Hutt from a Republic prison, fearing the traitorous Hutt would spill their secrets. When Ziro the Hutt escaped from Nal Hutta, she hired the bounty hunter Cad Bane to track Ziro the Hutt down. A weakness for excessive gambling had marred a life with her defeat, and led to her downfall in a rivalry with Jabba the Hutt.

## Biography

### Gambling Consequences

**Gardulla Besadii the Elder** was born seven centuries prior to the Galactic Civil War, her activities as a crime boss flourished at the golden age of her rule, in which her use of slaverywould seem to have granted the Hutt criminal boss fortune, although it caused a number of conflicts between Gardulla and the Hutt Jabba Desilijic Tiure. At some later time, Gardulla the Hutt had resorted to a limited form of partnership with fellow crime lord Jabba, who would become Gardulla's greatest rival, after she lost her entire fortune on gambling. She still had power over a slave trade franchise. The Republic soon outlawed the slavery in the Outer Rim, as soon as the Hutt agreement was reached she was to be sentenced to life in prison. Eventually, Gardulla was able to return to Tatooine and control her criminal empire.

Rumors of a romance between Gardulla and Jabba erupted, with her presence at his Tatooine operation base only then fueling the speculation. Her true motivations remained her own. In time Gardulla the Hutt had earned a place as one of the most prominent crime lords of the Hutt Clan based on Tatooine, whose grand plans for a Podrace course had been eclipsed over the years by Jabba's own, had been a longtime supporter of the Dug podracer, Sebulba. Before the grand spectacular Boonta Eve Classic in which Sebulba was to participate during the time of the Invasion of Naboo, Gardulla the Hutt tried to trick Jabba into thinking a less likely racer would win. Gardulla had predictably failed in her cunning and felt she was tricked herself, in that Jabba's droid had determined Anakin Skywalker had a chance to succeed, who had once been Gardulla's slave along with this mother. After the race, Gardulla tred to persuade Watto to sell Anakin back to her. Unfortunately, the junk dealer wasn't able to retrieve the boy from Qui-Gon Jinn, who took him away to the Republic capital to become a Jedi. Shmi remained in Watto's service, until he sold her to Cliegg Lars, who freed and married her.

### Clone Wars Hutt Business

#### Dirty Secrets of the Hutt Clan

Following Ziro the Hutt's breakout during the Clone Wars, Gardulla and the Hutt Council met at her palace on Nal Hutta and demanded that Ziro give up the Council's records. She, along with the other heads of the five Hutt families, listened to Ziro the Hutt's testimony regarding a holo-diary which listed the many heinous crimes of the Hutt Council. When Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos arrived on Nal Hutta to report that Ziro the Hutt had escaped custody with the help of bounty hunter Cad Bane, Gardulla asked them how the war was going and denied that the Hutts had anything to do with Ziro's escape or Cad Bane. After Vos stated that he thought that the Hutt Council was behind Ziro the Hutt and his escape from custody, Gardulla threatened him, saying that if Vos were alone, he would not be allowed to leave alive. Following that encounter, Gardulla and the Council discovered that Ziro escaped. After learning of his escape, Gardulla and the Council hired Bane to find the diary and Ziro, who escaped with help from Sy Snootles. Not known to Gardulla, Sy was hired by Jabba to kill Ziro once the diary was in her possession. Sy killed Ziro and delivered the diary to Jabba.