The Dai Bendu, also referred to as the Bendu, represented a religious order serving as the forerunners to what would become the Jedi Order. The earliest known holocrons are credited to the Dai Bendu, with the first of these artifacts linked to them. Originating from the Bendu monks' study of numerology, the symbol of the Galactic Republic, which was displayed on starfighters flown by the Jedi Knights, represented the number nine—visualized as eight spokes converging on a central disk—to symbolize the Force's benevolent influence in a unified galaxy. Within the galactic standard calendar, the weekday "Benduday," the fifth and concluding day, received its name in honor of the Bendu monks who resided on the planet of Coruscant. Around 965 BBY, they established a monastery in what later developed into Kijimi City on the planet Kijimi. The temple's presence drew the Brotherhood of the Beatific Countenance to Kijimi for a pilgrimage, leading them to occupy the Quarter of the Beatific. Local tradition held that the Dai Bendu monks were the original inventors of Skordu, during the era when the city served as a religious center. Following the fall of the Republic and its transformation into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the self-proclaimed Emperor Palpatine modified the ancient Bendu icon for his own purposes, removing two of its spokes to create the Imperial crest.
The initial mention of the Dai Bendu within the new Star Wars canon occurred in the twenty-fifth issue of De Agostini's magazine, Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon, which was released around June 24, 2015. In Star Wars Legends continuity, the Dai Bendu are known as the Order of Dai Bendu, recognized as one of several organizational predecessors to the Je'daii Order, along with the Followers of Palawa and the Chatos Academy.