| Universe : |
Prime Timeline |
| Species Name : |
Bajorans [1] |
| Political Affiliation : |
Bajoran [2] |
| Quadrant : |
Alpha |
One of the Alpha quadrants more humanoid species, the Bajorans are distinguishable from humans primarily by the appearance of their nose, which is both ridged and slightly more prominent. [3] Female Bajorans have a relatively rapid gestation period of five months, which leads to a very fast vascularisation process. [4] The Bajoran culture is one of the longest-lived in the alpha quadrant; their civilisation flourished over half a million years ago [1] and they first gained interstellar capacity over eight centuries ago. [5] The dominant religion of the planet dates back at least ten thousand years, and is centred around worship of the aliens living within the bajoran Wormhole - the Bajorans refer to these entities as 'The Prophets' and to the wormhole as the 'Celestial Temple'. [2]
More recently the Bajorans have not fared so well. The Cardassians invaded Bajor in 2328, driving much of the native population from the planet and enslaving the remainder. Bajoran culture suffered greatly during this period, with many living in squalid conditions. Despite this, the Bajorans maintained a small but aggressive resistance effort throughout the occupation [1] and by 2369 the Cardassian government had become frustrated with the militaries inability to crush this movement. Weary of decades of terrorist activity, the Cardassians pulled out of Bajor in this year. [2]
The Bajorans established a provisional government, [3] and despite many difficulties they have been successful in overcoming many of their problems. In 2373 the Bajorans petition for Federation membership was accepted, but at the last moment they withdrew their application for religious reasons. [6] The Bajoran remained politically neutral in the early parts of the war, allowing them to avoid a direct Dominion invasion when Deep Space Nine was captured. [7] When the Federation retook the station, [8] the Bajorans sided with the allies despite some initial trouble with the Romulans. [9]
A major factor in the Bajoran way of life has been their relationship with the wormhole aliens, who the Bajorans think of as gods. [3] Much anguish was caused when the Pagh-Wraiths managed to close the wormhole, [10] but Captain Sisko was successful in using an Orb to reopen it. [11] Sisko also participated in a final battle against the Wraiths in the Bajoran Fire Caves, sealing them into the caves forever. [12]
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