Attack on Dantooine (Jedi Civil War)

The Attack on Dantooine was a massive planetary bombardment conducted in 3956 BBY by the Sith fleets of Darth Malak during the Jedi Civil War. The Jedi Enclave on Dantooine was believed to have been sufficiently fortified and too well-defended to invite an attack by the marauding Sith in that era; Malak and commander of Sith forces Saul Karath proved the Jedi Masters there wrong by conducting a highly effective bombardment of the planet's surface, destroying the Enclave and killing a number of high-ranking Jedi. Afterwards, a brutal large-scale subjugation of Dantooine's population was carried out, lasting for several years.

The Jedi Council on Dantooine was aware of the attack thanks to the Force, but was unable to do anything about it save evacuate as they had no protection from an orbital bombardment. Their efforts proved to be unsuccessful, as only a small amount of the Jedi stationed on Dantooine were able to evacuate. However, thanks to their precognition of the attack, many high ranking members of the Jedi Council were able to escape, such as Master Vandar Tokare and Master Vrook Lamar.

Dantooine suffered greatly under the yoke of the Sith, after the location of the Jedi Enclave was exposed and the bombardment completed. Sith troops invaded and occupied the world, with many innocent settlers arrested and executed for no reason whatsoever. Malak took Jedi captured in the attack to the Viewing Platform of the Star Forge, where they were placed in cells preventing them from becoming one with the Force and were used to enhance Malak's own power. After the Sith were driven off some time before 3951 BBY, a sort of selective recollection gradually took hold amongst the populace, with many of them growing to despise the Jedi and holding them responsible for Dantooine's woes—despite much of the good wrought by the academy for decades previous.

While this event had a drastic impact on the Dantooine settlers, leaving them completely unprotected—which later led to the formation of Khoonda—the consequences for the Jedi Order itself were less significant. The Jedi that were vital for the Republic's ultimate victory in the Jedi Civil War—namely Revan, Bastila Shan, Juhani, and Jolee Bindo—were not on Dantooine during the strike, busy searching for Rakatan Star Maps, and the Council—Masters Dorak, Vrook Lamar, Zhar Lestin, and Vandar Tokare—survived the attack. Moreover, most of the Jedi historical materials, including holocrons, had been evacuated to Telos IV by Atris earlier in case of an attack. Nevertheless, the deaths of much of the Jedi population of the Enclave weakened the Order and foreshadowed the Jedi purge that was to follow the Jedi Civil War.

Text and facts from the “Attack on Dantooine (Jedi Civil War)” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.