The Twi'lek Pilgrims represented a faction of Twi'leks who escaped the harsh realities of life on Ryloth and other colonies during the Cold War that occurred between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic.
This organization's genesis occurred following the Great Galactic War. The initial Matriarch, known as Kolovish, started drawing people to her cause while working at a refugee camp. This camp provided aid to individuals who were displaced due to the Hutt Cartels occupying the Twi'lek home planet, Ryloth. Kolovish shared with her small group of devotees the principles of a basic existence, promoting the doctrines of an old code she had discovered on a faraway planet. As she moved between refugee camps, her following grew. Eventually, Kolovish and her wandering group of pilgrims ventured into hyperspace after facing continuous rejection from various host planets. Ultimately, they stumbled upon the recently reoccupied world of Tython.
Upon landing on this verdant, forested planet, the pilgrims encountered the Jedi Order, which had secretly re-established itself there. The pilgrims constructed the Matriarch's dwelling on the site where their initial vessel landed. They then appealed to the Galactic Senate for legal recognition of their settlement, but their request was turned down. Disregarding the unlawful status of their settlement, the Twi'leks persisted in their efforts to erect lasting structures, even in the face of attacks from the local Flesh Raiders and the refusal of the nearby Jedi to offer assistance.