- "Visit Mandalore before Mandalore visits you. Take home some souvenirs—a slab of uj cake and a smack in the mouth."
- ―Baltan Carid
Taungs under the leadership of Mandalore the First settled the planet prior to 7,000 BBY. They drove the native mythosaurs to extinction, using their skeletons to construct cities of bone. The planet was named after the great leader. The Taungs thereafterwards called themselves Mandalorians. The Mandalorians traveled from Mandalore and conquered many worlds. After failing to conquer Onderon, they briefly settled on its moon Dxun.
The Mandalorians adopted other species into their ranks, and the last of the original Taung species eventually died out due to the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders all-out attempt to conquer the Republic during the Mandalorian Wars.
The planet eventually became part of the Republic (possibly c. 200 BBY), but was marginalized and grew destitute.
The planet joined the Confederacy, viewing the Republic as a corrupt oppressor. The Mandalorian Supercommandos led by Mandalore the Resurrector were tasked with protecting their planet. They fought on Zaadja, New Bornalex, and New Holstice. Their most stunning victory was at the Second Battle of Kamino. Darth Sidious assigned them to capture Senator Amidala on Norval II, but Palpatine arranged for them to be ambushed by the Jedi. The Super Commandos assaulted the planet, accompanied by Battle Legionnaire droids. They were wiped out by the Jedi, save three survivors: Tobbi Dala, Fenn Shysa, and the Resurrector himself.
Dala and Shysa mistakenly believed Boba Fett to have been the Resurrector, not realizing the Resurrector had been the rogue ARC trooper Spar. Their confusion was understandable, as Spar and Boba were both clones of Jango Fett. Spar somehow ended up on Iego, where he was later killed by Ailyn Vel, who confused him for her father, Boba.
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Mandalore fell under the jurisdiction of the Suprema, a non-Human Imperial advisor. The planet legalized slavery to escape its deep poverty. The Suprema ran the slave trade from the City of Bone, built inside the skeleton of a mythosaur. Fenn Shysa and Tobbi Dala began a resistance. The Zann Consortium engaged in piracy over Mandalore during this period, even kidnapping the Supreme Strategist and defeating the Mandalorian clan leader.
After the Battle of Hoth, Leia Organa came to Shysa's resistance camp near Keldabe, a beautiful hideout in the planet's treetops. There she found the bounty hunter Dengar held captive. She interrogated him as to where Boba Fett was hiding with frozen-in-carbonite Han Solo. Whether mistaken or lying, Dengar misinformed her that Fett was hiding in the Anga system.
Fenn Shysa and Tobbi Dala, two of three surviving Mandalorian Supercommandos, were helped by Leia in ridding the planet of slavers (at the cost of Dala's life), destroying the City of Bone and killing the Suprema. Shysa became a symbol of hope, rallying the people of the planet against Grand Admiral Miltin Takel and the Empire.
After a long struggle Fenn finally freed the Mandalore Sector, and kept Mandalore safe.
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