Klingon history

The page details the history of the Klingons and their Empire.

Early History
The Klingons of the Zanxthkolt Dynasty practiced mummification. (TOS movie: The Voyage Home)

The origins of the Klingon Empire began in around 854 AD, the so-called "Heroic Age of Qo'noS", when Kahless the Unforgettable united the many warring tribes of Qo'noS. Under Kahless's leadership, the Klingons began to expand their empire across the planet and out into the galaxy following the development of warp drive in 922 AD (TNG episode: "Rightful Heir"; novel: Kahless; ST reference: )

However, the "First" Klingon Empire fell in around 972 AD after the Hur'q, a race from the Gamma Quadrant, invaded Qo'noS and pillaged many of the Empires treasures, including the Sword of Kahless. However, the will of the Klingons soon resulted in the Hur'q withdrawing from Qo'noS in around the 1300s. The Hur'q left Qo'noS resource poor, and many departed the Klingon system to establish other colonies using 7 great starships constructed on the order of Ch'gran. (DS9 episode: "The Sword of Kahless"; TLE novel: The Art of the Impossible)

In the age of the Second Empire, Chancellor Mow'ga sent a fleet into Breen space to conquer the alien species. The fleet was never be heard from again. (DS9 episode: Til Death Do Us Part)

Between 2041 and 2069, the Empire engaged in several skirmishes with the Romulan Star Empire. (Decipher RPG: Player's Guide)

22nd Century
Be the 22nd century the Klingon Empire had grown to be one of the major powers in the Alpha and Beta Quadrant regions.

Between the 2140s and early 2150s the Klingon Empire faced much internal strife which threatened civil war. Numerous strikes had occurred around the Empire which were being blamed on various Klingons factions. The attacks were in fact the work of the Suliban Cabal attempting to disrupt the Empire as part of the Temporal Cold War.

The truth of the attacks was learned in 2151 and a courier, Klaang, was sent to deliver this information to the Klingon High Council. Attempts were made on the couriers life and he crash landed on the planet Earth. Klaang's injuries were treated and he was returned aboard the starship Enterprise to Qo'noS with his intelligence. This incident marked first contact between Humanity and the Klingon Empire. (ENT episode: Broken Bow)

Later that year the Enterprise assisted in the recovery of the from the atmosphere of a gas giant. (ENT episode: Sleeping Dogs) In 2153 the Enterprise once more became involved in Klingon affairs when it rendered assistance to a ship full of refugees fleeing the planet Rha'darus in the Empire. Captain Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise refused to give in to Klingon demands to hand the refugees back and was eventually captured and trialled on Narendra III where he was sentenced to imprisonment on Rura Penthe. (ENT episode: Judgment)

Archer was rescued from Rura Penthe in shot time resulting in a price being put on his head by the Klingons. Several attempts were made to recapture Archer including an attack on the Enterprise in Sol system but Archer remained a free man. (ENT episodes: , The Expanse)
 * The TNG episode "" stated that "disastrous" first contact with the Klingons led to decades of bad relations. This would seem to have been contradicted by the events of Enterprise as first contact went reasonably well. However it is certainly true that relations with the Klingons were far from friendly in subsequent encounters.

The Augments Crisis
In 2154 the Empire almost went to war with Earth when a Bird-of-Prey was captured and it's crew killed by a group of Human Augments. The war was averted when the Enterprise destroyed the Bird-of-Prey, preventing it from destroying the Qu'Vat colony with a biogenic weapon. (ENT episode: )

After seeing the strengths of the Augments, the Empire feared that the Humans were attempting to breed genetically engineered super soldiers for use against them. To counter this, genetic samples were recovered from the Augments destroyed Bird-of-Prey which were used to develop Klingon Augments. The experiments were successful in developing stronger more intelligent Klingons but had the unfortunate side effects of test subjects losing their cranial ridges and later dieing when their neural pathways degraded. One of the test subjects was suffering from Levodian flu which combined with genetic modifications and began to spread as a deadly airborne plague among Klingon worlds.

Desperate to save the lives of quickly increasing number victims of the modifications the Klingons kidnapped Doctor Phlox of the Enterprise. Phlox and the Klingon Doctor Antaak successfully developed a cure which prevented the deaths of those who contracted the plague but prevented the development of augmented physical and mental abilities and left millions of Klingons ridgeless. (ENT episodes: Affliction, Divergence)

23rd Century
Earth allied with Vulcan, Andor and Tellar in 2161 with the formation of the United Federation of Planets. The Klingons quickly came to see the Federation an opponent and by the 2220s the two states existed at the edge of war (TOS movie The Undiscovered Country). One of the early conflicts with the Federation was the Battle of Donatu V in 2244. (TOS episode: The Trouble with Tribbles)

In 2245 the Empire would made first contact with the Sha'Kurian Ducal Territories. They attempted to conquer the Territories but were repelled and ceased making active incursions in that region of space. (TOS video game: Klingon Academy)

2260s
The Empires state of cold war with the Federation continued throughout the first half of the century with various brief skirmishes and battles such as the Battle of Caleb IV in the 2260s. (DS9 episode: Once More Unto the Breach)

Finally in 2267 open war was declared between the states. The Klingons launched an immediate offensive, seizing many worlds including Organia. The occupation of Organia brought the war to short end when it was revealed the native Organians were not the primitive humanoids they appeared to be but in fact powerful non-corporeal beings who intervened and forced the two powers to agree to a peace treaty. (TOS episode: Errand of Mercy)

The Organian Peace Treaty demanded the two states compete for new worlds by proving their ability to best develop planets to their agricultural and economic potential rather than simply fighting for them. Because they could not fight openly the Klingons were forced to take their victories by less obvious means, even resorting to dishonorable espionage. (TOS comic: "Beneath the Skin")

There would be no active war between the Empire and the Federation at this point as the Klingons feared the retribution of the Organians for breaking the peace treaty. Despite this, numerous small skirmishes would continue with the Federation for sometime. The two side attempted to cooperate in peaceful negotiations by participating in diplomatic relations at the Nimbus III outpost in 2267. (TOS movie: The Final Frontier)

In order to secure some advantage against the Federation, the Empire formed an unlikely alliance with the Romulan Star Empire in 2268. The Klingon-Romulan alliance resulted in an exchange of technology with the Klingons receiving newly developed cloaking devices in exchange for Klingon starships. (TOS episode: The Enterprise Incident)

2270s
The Klingons engaged in a brief alliance with the rogue Vulcan T'Uerell in 2270 who aided them in developing an energy beam weapon for use against the Federation. The prototype was destroyed by the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) which had infiltrated Klingon space. (ST video game: Legacy)

This period also saw the end of the alliance with the Romulans with the Klingon victory at the Battle of Klach D'Kel Brakt in 2271. (DS9 episode: Blood Oath)

Meanwhile, the alliance with T'Uerell came to an end by 2272 when the rogue Vulcan abandoned her allies and used cybernetic creatures to assimilate Klingon vessels for her own use before escaping. (ST video game: Legacy)

2280s
In 2285 the Klingon Kruge received intelligence on the Federation's genesis device and perceiving it as a most deadly weapon attempted to steal the technology, attacking and destroying the USS Grissom (NCC-638) over the Genesis planet. Kruge's crew were later tricked into boarding the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) moments before it self destructed and Kruge himself was killed on the planet below having failed to obtain the genesis technology and leaving his ship in the hands of James T. Kirk. (TOS movie: The Search for Spock)

Kirk's capture of a Klingon bird-of-prey would brought diplomatic outcry from the Empire who wished Kirk to have been arrested and tried for crimes against the Klingon people with the Klingon ambassador to the Federation, Kamarag declaring "there shall be no peace so long as Kirk lives!". (TOS movie: ''The Voyage Home)

The Empire competed with both the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire in their attempts to colonize the newly revealed region of space known as Tabula Rasa. (TOS video game: New Worlds)

Though still hostile to the Federation, some diplomatic contact would still be maintained. One notable encounter was a meeting at the Korvat colony in 2289 with Curzon Dax meeting Kang in order to form peaceful relations between the Empire and the Federation. Nothing came of this but the encounter did make Dax a respectable opponent in the eyes of the Klingon people. (DS9 episode: Blood Oath)

2290s
In 2291 when power struggles engulfed the Empire with an attempted coup against Chancellor Lorak by Kalnor. This ended when General Chang engaged in a blood duel against Kalnor preventing a possible civil war. However, Lorak died of old age and his successor, Chief of Staff Gorkon was next in line to the Chancellorship but was blocked by Melkor who started the Klingon Civil War.

The war was secretly aided by the Romulan Star Empire and resulted in huge damage to the Empire with the destruction of one of their chief energy production facilities, Tal'Ihnor Gates, before Melkor was killed. Even after Melkor's death loyal factions continued to fight but were unable to conduct their planned coup and Gorkon was installed as the new Chancellor. After taking stock of the Empire's current state, it became painfully obvious that the war had crippled the Klingon people and new drastic action was needed in order to survive. (TOS video game: Klingon Academy)

In 2293 the Empire suffered a massive crisis with the destruction of Qo'noS's moon of Praxis. The moons destruction caused huge environmental damage to Qo'noS and with the Empire's disproportionate spending on military the Klingons could not afford the expense of recovery. The disaster prompted Gorkon to propose peace with the Federation and the dismantling of military facilities along the boarder whicht he Empire could no longer afford.

The move was controversial, resulting in Gorkon's assassination en route to talks on Earth. Gorkon's daughter Azetbur was appointed the new Chancellor and, despite the best efforts of a conspiratorial group trying to prevent the talks, decided to continue her father's plans for peace. The peace talks went ahead at Khitomer resulting in the signing of the Khitomer Accords, laying the foundations for peace between the two powers after seventy years of continued hostilities. (TOS movie: The Undiscovered Country)

24th Century
The Empire made extended contact with the Cardassian Union in 2328 when the IKS Wo'bortas shadowed a Cardassian vessel into the Betreka Nebula and discovered the remains of one of Ch'gran's starships on the planet Raknal V. This was the start of the infamous Betreka Nebula Incident which lasted eighteen years. The source of the dispute was a matter of Klingon honor and part of the ancestry of high ranking Klingons which threatened to destabilize the quadrant. The Romulans attempted to ignite the conflict while the Federation worked hard to find a peaceful resolution to the dispute. The incident finally came to an end in 2346 when the Empire decided to abandon the find and colony to the Cardassians. (TLE novel: The Art of the Impossible; DS9 episode: The Way of the Warrior)

Despite the Khitomer Accords tensions remained high between the Empire and the Federation. During the early 2340s the states were on the brink of war. However, the actions of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C) answereing a distress call from the Klingon colony of Narendra III which was being attacked by the Romulans renwened the peace. Despite being outnumbered, the Enterprise fought for the defense of the colony and was lost in battle. The heorism and honor of the Federation crew had had a lasting impression on the Klingons. Eventually resulting the signing of the Treaty of Alliance. (TNG episode: Yesterday's Enterprise; DS9 episode: The Way of the Warrior)

This period saw further attacks from the Romulans such as the Khitomer Massacre in 2346. (TNG episode: Sins of the Father)

Civil War

 * See main article: Klingon Civil War.

Peace within the Empire came to an end in the 2360s. Two rival factions developed, one led by Gowron and the other by Duras, Son of Toral. In 2367 when Chancellor K'Mpec died after a long reign, slowly poisnened by his oponents. Before his death, he appointed as the Arbiter of Succession Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), a Human which was an unprecedented move in Klingon history. His duty was to decide on who would become the new Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. It was learn that Duras was conspiring with the Romulans to collapse the Federation-Klingon alliance and before Picard made his decision Duras was killed by Worf in an act of revenge. Gowron was subsequently installed as the new chancellor. (TNG episode: )

Duras's sisters Lursa and B'Etor continued to fight for the role of the house and presented Duras's son, Toral as a candidate for Chancellorship to Picard. Picard ruled in favour of Gowron's continued Chancellorship and so the Empire divided as those in favour of Duras prepared to fight.

The war was brought to an end when the Federation discovered the Hosue of Duras was being supported by convoy's of cloaked Romulans ships so blockaded the Klingon Romulan boarder cutting of Druas's supplies. (TNG episode: Redemption)

Despite Gowrons successful ascent into the Chancellorship, there would be numerous small scale conflicts that threatened to destabilize the Empire. One, the Gonraii Rebellion were neutralised by the military loyal to the Chancellor. (TNG novel: Kahless)

An assassination attempt was also made on Gowron's life by factions loyal to the House of Duras which worked in secret to take control of the empire. The assassination was prevented by the Honor Guard after discovering one of its own was involved in the attempt. (TNG video game: Klingon Honor Guard)

Renewed hostilities
The biggest test to the relations of the Federation came after the discovery of the Dominion in the Gamma quadrant whose Founders made it clear that they would attempt to impose order on the Alpha and Beta quadrant powers to ensure that they never threatened the Great Link (DS9 episode: The Search). In order to accomplish this, they abducted General Martok and replaced him with a Changeling who advocated more aggressive action against their neighbours in an attempt to weaken the Empire for the Dominion to conquer (DS9 episodes: Apocalypse Rising, In Purgatory's Shadow).

This, along with internal pressures of the Empire and a recent civilian uprising against the Central Command of the Cardassian Union, resulted in the Klingons believing that the Cardassian government had been infiltrated by the Dominion. Using this excuse, the Empire prepared for war and used Deep Space 9 as a staging post for the initial invasion. This draw protest from the Federation which created a rift between the two powers to the point that diplomatic contact was broken off and Federation citizens were expelled from the Empire. Finally the Klingons withdrew from the Khitomer Accords and ended the long peace with thier former allies.

The USS Defiant (NX-74205) (I) under the command of Captain Benjamin Sisko orchestrated an attempt to save the newly formed civilian leadership of the Union by evacuating them to Deep Space 9. The Klingons pursued them and launched an assault on the Federation station. Sisko convinced Gowron a established Alpha Quadrant was exactly what the Dominion desired prompting Gowron to call of the siege of DS9. (DS9 episode: The Way of the Warrior)

However hostilities were not at an end. The Federation had siding against the Empire in battle, tense relations continued. The Klingons used this time to gain more Cardassian territory through raids and became increasingly aggressive to the Federation over the next year. (DS9 episode: Sons of Mogh, Rules of Engagement)

The Martok Changeling continued to goad the Klingons into further offensives and advised Gowron that the Empire should lay claim to territories that were in dispute since before the Khitomer Accords. Tensions continued to build until war broke out between the powers in 2373. The Federation-Klingon War of 2373 was short but brutal, brought to an end after the discovery that Martok was infact a Changeling who had been engineering the entire conflict. (DS9 episode: Apocalypse Rising)

The Dominion War

 * See main article: Dominion War.''

In mid-2373 the Dominion annexed the Cardassian Union. Jem'Hadar forces quickly retook Cardassian territory and expelled the Klingon presence from the captured worlds. Seeing the threat posed by the Dominion, Gowron reformed the alliance with the Federation to work together once more to fight the renewed shared threat. This also saw a detachment of Klingon forces stationed at Deep Space 9 under the command of the real General Martok. (DS9 episode: By Inferno's Light)

Post-Dominion War
Though the Klingons and their allies were victorious in the battle against the Dominion, peace would not remain within the Empire. In 2376, Toral of the House of Duras instigated a new rebellion that divided the Empire once more and challenged the forces loyal to Chancellor Martok which began a new Klingon Civil War. The House of Duras was once again secretly supported by the Romulans. However, power was returned to the loyalist forces when Worf returned with the Sword of Kahless. The rebellious forces were crushed though Toral escaped and ended his alliance with the Romulans.

After discovering the Romulan's part in the Civil War, the Klingons engaged in hostilities with the Star Empire. At the same time, the Klingons were also fighting an attempted invasion by the Borg Collective into the Alpha and Beta quadrants. A renewed alliance formed between the Federation, Klingon and Romulan governments to fight the Borg which drove the collective back out of the region. (TNG video game: Armada)
 * In an alternate timeline, the Borg had succeeded in their invasion and assimilated Earth. Presumably, in this timeline, they had also assimilated the Klingon Empire.

In the same year, a coup was engineered by Morjod and Gothmara which was designed to throw the empire into chaos and allow the two Klingons to become the new rulers of the Klingon people. This coup against Martok was ultimately unsuccessful. (DS9 novel: The Left Hand of Destiny)

Later while the Federation fought of a second Borg invasion, with much of the Federation fleet temporarily in the Delta Quadrant the Klingons came to the aid of their allied when a Cardassian force under the command of Gul Kentar launched a sneak attack on the remaining Federation forces. The Klingons cut Kentar's supply lines and fought several battles against Kentar's forces. The conflict was ended when the Klingons assaulted Cardassia and Kentar's secret base in the Hubrik system. The Klingons also fought minor battles with Species 8472 vessels making incursions into the region at the time. (TNG video game: Armada II)

The alliance with the Federation continued to prosper. In 2379 the two worked together in the construction of the Unity One station. However, tensions would erupt when sneak attacks were orchestrated by the Romulan Star Empire which sought to end the alliance and destroy both of their sworn enemies. (TNG video game: Starfleet Command III)

In the same year, the Empire faced hostility from the planet Tezwa which resulted in the death of thousands of Klingon warriors and nearly started an interstellar war. (TNG novel: A Time for War, A Time for Peace)

Later that year the Klingons accepting the Remans as a protectorate of the Klingon Empire, resulting in Klingon vessels entering Romulan space. Over the next year Klingon forces were involved in a number of skirmishes within Romulan space. After continued attacks and the failure of the Remans to successfully settle on the Ehrei'fvil continent of Romulus the Klingons allowed the Remans to settle on a planet within the Klingon Empire. (TTN novel: Taking Wing; ST novel: Articles of the Federation)

Later in 2380, Chancellor Martok attended a conference with the Federation President and the Romulan Praetor on Grisella regarding the founding of the Imperial Romulan State. Rather then denounce the new government of Commander Donatra, now Empress of the Imperial Romulan State, Martok instead gave his approval to the new state, recognising its sovereignty. (ST novel: Articles of the Federation)

Alternate Timelines
In an alternate timeline where Humanity never developed, the Klingon Empire were engaged in several wars with the Vulcan government and the Romulan Star Empire. The wars against the Vulcans resulted in numerous defeats for the Empire and the Klingons attempted a diplomatic alternative which created a peace initiative took hold and an attempt was made to form a lasting peace with the Romulans. However, the Klingons were betrayed apparently by the Vulcans - in actual fact, an altered Romulan spy - which resulted in massive amounts of damage to Klingon colonies and to a single continent of the Klingon homeworld. The Klingons were outraged by this and declared the Vulcans as deceivers and traitors. Fortunately, a treaty was established that confined the Vulcans to their territory as well as made them neutral during the Klingon-Romulan war which devastated both parties. The Vulcans convinced the Klingons to make use of suicidal tactics which gave a slight advantage to the desperate Klingon forces. During the course of the war, several species were wiped out for not supporting the Klingon war effort or for their neutrality or for siding with the Romulans. This timeline was erased when Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) went back in time to ensure Humans developed on Earth. (TOS novel: First Frontier)

In another alternate timeline created when the Enterprise-C did not participate in the defence of the Narendra III colony by escaping into a temporal fissure history was changed for the worse. This single event altered the course of history and in an alternate 2366 a state of active war was present between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets. During this war, the Klingons were winning and it was projected that the Federation would eventually lose the war. This timeline was averted when the Enterprise-C was sent back through the rift where it fought against the Romulans at Narendra III and secured the Klingons as allies. (TNG episode: Yesterday's Enterprise)

In one possible future that Jean-Luc Picard saw while suffering from temporal jumps to the past (2364), present (2370) and future (2395) due to Q, it was revealed that the Romulan Star Empire was conquered by the Klingon Empire. The Empire would also be hostile to the Federation of this era. This particular timeline was brought to an end when the anti-time anomaly at the centre of events was destroyed. (TNG episode: All Good Things...)

By the year 2400 in the alternate timeline generated by the War of the Prophets, the Klingon Empire was no more as all its colonies were destroyed by the Grigari and the Bajoran Ascendancy. Those few Klingons who lived went on a murderous suicidal rampage to avenge their race and died in the attempt while the remaining had been converted to he religion of the Ascendancy. This timeline was reset due to the efforts of Benjamin Sisko who prevented the opening of the Red Wormhole. (DS9 novel: Millennium)