The Ka'ra constituted an age-old mythos within Mandalorian culture. In a distant epoch, when the Mandalorians were deeply religious, they held the belief that the stars visible in the night sky above Mandalore were the spiritual essence of deceased rulers from their cultural homeworld who had fallen. The myth stated that the Ka'ra were a council of guidance that the former leaders of the culture would become a part of after they died.
As time progressed, the Mandalorians transitioned toward a society characterized by secularism and diminished superstition. These Mandalorians, with their more pragmatic and rational outlook, ceased to regard the ancient myths as concrete instances of the supernatural, choosing instead to interpret them as parables. They drew allegorical or philosophical meaning, rather than literal truth, from ancient narratives such as the Ka'ra and the Akaanati'kar'oya.
The concept of the Ka'ra made its initial appearance in the Star Wars universe within the Star Wars Insider article titled, The Mandalorians: People and Culture, written by Karen Traviss and released in February of 2006 as part of the magazine's eighty-sixth edition.
- " The Mandalorians: People and Culture " — Star Wars Insider 86 (First mentioned)