The Mandalorian Excision, an event in 738 BBY also known among the Mandalorian people as the Dral'Han (translated as Annihilation), was a short but intense war. This conflict resulted in the Galactic Republic devastating Mandalorian Space. After the Republic put the Ruusan Reformations into effect in 1000 BBY, the Mandalorians advanced technologically and militarily, yet they refused to join the Republic because of their traditional warrior culture. The Jedi Order, concerned by the growing Mandalorian threat, organized the Republic's Judicial Forces and Planetary Security Forces for a preemptive strike against Mandalorian Space. The Mandalorians were overwhelmed and suffered significant losses. Several planets, including Fenel, Ordo, Concord Dawn, and Mandalore itself, were crippled by heavy bombardment. The damage persisted for centuries, leaving large areas of Mandalorian worlds as barren deserts.
In the aftermath of the Excision, the Republic disarmed and occupied Mandalorian Space. They established a provisional government to manage sectoral affairs. While rebuilding their war-torn worlds, the Mandalorians maintained their unique culture and their resentment towards the Republic and the Jedi who had defeated them. The Excision led to the rise of the pacifist New Mandalorians, who gained control in many areas of government and society, becoming the new leaders of Mandalore. However, many warriors remained committed to their traditional ways, eventually forming splinter groups such as the Death Watch. This ideological divide guaranteed future conflict, which continued into the era of the Clone Wars.
During the final millennium of the Galactic Republic's reign, the Mandalorian warriors of Mandalorian Space frequently clashed with the Republic, most notably in the Mandalorian Wars from 3976 BBY to 3960 BBY. After the loss of their leader, Mandalore the Ultimate, the Mandalorian clans were disarmed and surrendered to the Republic. However, they harbored a deep resentment towards the Republic and the Jedi Order that had defeated them. The Mandalorian warrior codes were primarily followed within Mandalorian Space. It wasn't until Mandalore the Uniter emerged as a new leader in 1051 BBY that the Mandalorians began to stabilize their lawless region of the galaxy. Mandalore the Uniter initiated the Return movement, urging his scattered people to strengthen and defend Mandalorian Space. This allowed them to survive the thousand-year New Sith Wars and develop into a regional industrial power. They protected neighboring sectors and star systems from threats while also advancing their technology and military capabilities. During this period, Mandalorian Space, particularly the Mandalorian homeworld of Mandalore, reached the height of its military strength.
As Mandalorian Space regained galactic prominence as a highly disciplined society, the Republic, weakened and fragmented after the New Sith Wars, began to reunify following the Ruusan Reformations in 1000 BBY. The Republic's re-establishment of control over the Outer Rim Territories led to renewed conflict with Mandalorian Space. Initially seen as a source of stability, the Mandalorians, who had begun taxing trade along the Hydian Way, enforcing economic and defense agreements on neighboring sectors, and ignoring the Republic's new defense restrictions, re-emerged as a threat. Some pro-peace clan leaders believed that Mandalorian Space should join the Republic as a powerful and influential sector, as they had no chance of winning a direct war. However, the majority of Mandalorians strongly favored continued independence, believing that non-warrior Mandalorians were not true Mandalorians. This view prevailed for centuries, until the Republic and the Jedi Order decided to take preemptive action against the increasingly resistant Mandalorians.
In the year 738 BBY, the Republic authorized the formation of a task force to eliminate the Mandalorian threat. The Republic's Judicial Forces were mobilized along with units from various Planetary Security Forces in the Expansion Region, with Jedi serving as commanders of the war effort. The Jedi led their troops into Mandalorian Space, targeting key worlds such as Fenel, Ordo, and Concord Dawn, as well as Mandalore itself. During the ensuing battles, Republic warships subjected the targeted planets of Mandalorian Space to devastating bombardment. This created barren deserts of white sand, transforming entire regions, including forests and [farmland](/article/farm-legends]. With no chance of repelling the Republic's attack, the Mandalorian clans were defeated, and the Jedi–Republic forces claimed victory. Many Mandalorian warriors were exiled, disarmed, or killed as a result of the conflict.
The Mandalorian Excision, as the Republic called the brief but brutal war, left Mandalorian Space devastated. The Mandalorian people referred to the conflict as the Dral'Han, which translates from Mando'a to "the Annihilation." For decades, the Republic occupied and disarmed Mandalorian Space, installing a loyal caretaker government from the pro-Republic peace movement that existed before the war. The occupation of Mandalore led to an ideological split within Mandalorian society. The pacifist New Mandalorians from the caretaker government rose in opposition to the warrior clans. Resenting the Republic but seeing no advantage in continuing the fight, the New Mandalorians abandoned the ancient warrior codes in favor of nonviolence and neutrality to save their ravaged homeworld.
The New Mandalorians gained control over most positions of power and ruled Mandalorian Space because the majority of Mandalorians were tired of war. However, this societal divide shaped the following centuries of Mandalorian history. Those who secretly continued to practice the outlawed warrior ways became known as the Faithful, while the New Mandalorians were called the Faithless. All Mandalorian clans were affected by the lasting divisions between the Faithful and Faithless.
The devastation of Mandalore and other worlds persisted long after the Excision, with many areas remaining desolate well into the era of the Galactic Empire. Despite the damage to their homes, the Mandalorians preserved their unique culture and technology. Because the white sand deserts of Mandalore were uninhabitable, the New Mandalorians rebuilt their world by constructing massive bio-cube cities as part of their new civilization. Their domed capital, Sundari, was one such city built amidst the inhospitable sands.
The Excision prompted the Republic to re-evaluate the best ways to coordinate the Planetary Security Forces, an effort that the war had necessitated. Following the Excision, Republic marshals and admirals met at the Corsin Retreat to discuss the matter, leading to the revival of the Republic Naval College as the College of Planetary Security Forces on Anaxes.
As Mandalore was rebuilt into an industrial power over the following centuries, many unrepentant warriors and mercenaries were exiled to the moon Concordia. Others remained in the regions of Mandalore untouched by the war, such as the traditional capital of Keldabe, or ventured into the galaxy to become bounty hunters like their ancestors. Subsequent generations of the Faithful experienced further divisions. The True Mandalorians, a reformist movement, clashed with the Death Watch, a radical terrorist splinter group, in 60 BBY. The resulting Mandalorian Civil War led to the decimation of the True Mandalorians in 44 BBY. The Death Watch survived and later attempted to overthrow the New Mandalorians. This sparked the Great Clan Wars, a bloody civil war that killed many Mandalorians and worsened the devastation caused by the Excision. Although defeated, the Death Watch leader Tor Vizsla survived and wrote about the Annihilation in his Death Watch manifesto, Ba'jurne Kyr'tsad Mando'ad.
The New Mandalorians remained in power after the Great Clan Wars, much to the Death Watch's frustration. The Death Watch allied itself with the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars from 22 BBY to 19 BBY. The Death Watch hoped to overthrow the New Mandalorians and avenge the Republic's brutality during the Excision. By that time, the New Mandalorians had gained representation in the Galactic Senate for "New Mandalore." The neutrality of Mandalore, established after the Excision, continued into the Clone Wars thanks to Duchess Satine Kryze, who became the leader of the New Mandalorians. Despite obstacles from the Death Watch and the Confederacy, Kryze was able to maintain the political isolation of the Mandalore system during the war while remaining loyal to the Republic.
Ultimately, the warrior ways triumphed over pacifism. The Death Watch and New Mandalorians both suffered significant losses from continued infighting, and the Mandalorian Protectors rose to power under the leadership of a new Mandalore, Spar. Decades later, the Mandalorian Excision was one of the historical events documented by the historian Vilnau Teupt in his 24 ABY keynote address at the Brentaal Academy.
The Mandalorian Excision, created as a backstory for a 2010 second season story arc of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, represented a retcon in the history of the planet Mandalore within the Expanded Universe. Mandalore was a prominent location in author Karen Traviss's Republic Commando novel series from 2007 onward, which depicted it as a more forested world. When the Mandalorians were explored in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the backstory for Mandalore, created by crew members such as Series Supervising Director Dave Filoni with input from Series Producer George Lucas, was that the world had been devastated, leaving its surface barren. This destruction led to the formation of the pacifist New Mandalorians, who were featured in the second season storyline.
Starting in August 2009 with The Essential Atlas, reference material reflected the change in canon. The Essential Atlas introduced a conflict between the Mandalorians and the Jedi as the reason for Mandalore's devastation, with its barren surface depicted in the series. Co-authors Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace did not learn about the series' retcon of Mandalore until they were nearly finished with The Essential Atlas. Fry worked quickly with Pablo Hidalgo and Leland Chee of Lucasfilm to incorporate the new information, particularly the Jedi–Mandalorian conflict. Fry later explored the details of the event in The Essential Guide to Warfare, published in April 2012. He named the event the "Mandalorian Excision" to clearly convey the Republic's harsh treatment of Mandalore and ensure Mandalorian resentment.
The Bounty Hunter Code: From the Files of Boba Fett, released in 2013, was the first publication to visually depict the Excision. It also provided further details about the event's aftermath and legacy through an in-universe narrative supposedly written by Tor Vizsla. However, the artwork features a Fury-class Imperial interceptor from the reconstituted Sith Empire and a Republic Valor-class cruiser, both originating from the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is set 3000 years prior to the Excision.