History of the Narn
From The Great Machine
History before 2258
A thousand years ago, during the Great War, the Narn homeworld was occupied by the Shadows. The Shadows systematically purged the Narn of their telepaths leaving their species the only major race without telepaths in 2258. During this war, a warrior-priest named G'Quan wrote the Book of G'Quan, a religious book that many Narn still follow to this day.
About one hundred and fifty years before 2258, the Centauri made first contact with the Narn. Over the next one hundred years, the Centauri strip-mined the entire surface of the Narn homeworld. When the Narn finally threw the Centauri off, they immediately began forming the great Narn Military consisting of many varieties of ships, including the G'Quan class, likely named in honor of the great warrior of a thousand years before.
The Narn sold weapons to the Earth Alliance during the Earth-Minbari War. Upon the founding of Babylon 5, they sent a member of the Kha'Ri named G'Kar to be their ambassador.
2258 to 2262
The Narn wanted retribution for what the Centauri had done, so in 2258 they launched an unprovoked assault against a Centauri colony on Ragesh 3. There, they had Ambassador Mollari's nephew, Carn Mollari, head researcher of Ragesh 3, issue a statement saying the Narn were invited. Only quick action by Jeffrey Sinclair in capturing a raider command ship that carried a Narn advisor resulted in the Narn withdrawal from Ragesh 3.
Tensions continued to flare and, in late 2258, a Narn listening post in Quadrant 37 was destroyed. While the Narn suspected the Centauri of having some involvement, they knew the Centauri had not done it. This convinced G'Kar that another major race had been involved in the destruction of the base, and eventually lead G'Kar to a confrontation with Shadow Fighters.
In 2259, with the destruction of the Narn colony in Quadrant 14, the Narn declared war on the Centauri. This war went badly for the Narn and resulted in the bombing of their homeworld, the destruction of the Narn navy, and the surrender by the Kha'Ri in late 2259. After the surrender, the Centauri exterminated all of the Kha'Ri with the exception of G'Kar, who requested, and was granted, sanctuary on Babylon 5.
Internal turmoil wracked the station's Narn population as a political divide formed between those wishing to immediately oppose the Centauri and those wishing to move slower with allies. In the end the slower method won out, with G'Kar leading the way. After an attempted assassination attempt on Londo Mollari, G'Kar was incarcerated. During his incarceration, G'Kar began writing his views and opinions down in a book that later became known as the Book of G'Kar.
After joining the Babylon 5 War Council, G'Kar learned the true complicity of the Shadows in his world's destruction. After returning to his homeworld to rescue Na'Toth, G'Kar was captured and brought to Centauri Prime, where he became Emperor Cartagia's toy. Mollari, having thrown off his ties with Morden, returned to Centauri Prime to undo what he had done. During this stay, he realized that the Emperor was mad and began plotting to overthrow Cartagia.
With G'Kar's help, Mollari assassinated Cartagia and, in recompense, ordered the withdrawal of the Centauri from Narn. A strange friendship began to develop between G'Kar and Mollari and when Mollari next made a trip to Centauri Prime, G'Kar accompanied him. During this last trip, the Book of G'Kar was published without G'Kar's permission, resulting in a complete change in how the Narn looked at the universe.
