A ceremonial sword was a key element in the Pijali monarchy's coronation rituals on the planet of Pijal, located in the Inner Rim. In 40 BBY, during her coronation, Princess Fanry of the Pijali people received the hallowed weapon from the Skykeeper, their religious leader, and made solemn promises to safeguard Pijal's freedom. Unexpectedly, the princess then used the ceremonial sword to stab the Skykeeper, a violent act that finalized her rise to the throne as an absolute monarch. Subsequently, Fanry took the weapon when she escaped the Pijali palace's Celestial Chalice temple, and she wore it as she gave commands from her flagship, the Righteous.
During the [Republic Era](/article/republic_era], the Pijali monarchy on the Inner Rim planet of Pijal employed a sharp ceremonial sword as a significant part of their sacred coronation proceedings.
Millennia before the Galactic Republic's time, Pijali colonists arrived on Pijal and established the Pijali monarchy. Over time, they cultivated various religious traditions observed by their monarchy, including the use of a consecrated ceremonial sword when crowning Pijal's monarchs. After the future ruler and the Skykeeper, the world's religious head, entered the Celestial Chalice temple within the Pijali palace, the Skykeeper would present the weapon to the future monarch, who would hold it upright and pledge their allegiance to Pijal.
In 40 BBY, while in the Celestial Chalice for her coronation, Princess Fanry of Pijal was given the ceremonial sword by the Skykeeper. After walking confidently to the temple's central dais, she vowed to use the blade to defend Pijal and ensure its independence. However, much to the shock of those watching the coronation, Fanry suddenly stabbed her Skykeeper with the sword, severely wounding him. The Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi intervened to shield the bleeding religious leader from her, positioning himself between the sword-wielding queen and the injured Pijali.
Having spoken the necessary vows to ascend to Pijal's throne, the newly declared queen angrily denounced democracy and took her chosen crown from the palace's court jeweler, placing it on her own head to finalize her seizure of absolute power in the Pijal system. When Fanry's attempt to have Deren, the captain of her royal guard, execute Kenobi and Meritt Col, the Sector Supervisor from Czerka Corporation, failed, she and Cady, her enslaved attendant, fled the Celestial Chalice in a royal guard dropship, taking the ceremonial sword with her. Fanry boarded her flagship, the Righteous, and wore the weapon at her side as she began to command the vessel's crew. Shortly after, when Qui-Gon Jinn, Kenobi's Master, initiated a hologram call with Fanry, he noticed that she was still carrying the ceremonial sword.
The Pijali ceremonial sword was featured in Master & Apprentice, a 2019 novel authored by Claudia Gray.