Mahan confederacy

Mahan confederacy
Hangul	마한
Hanja	馬韓
Revised Romanization	Mahan
McCune–Reischauer	Mahan

Mahan (Korean pronunciation: [ma.ɦan]) was a loose confederacy of statelets that existed from around the 1st century BC to 5th century AD in the southern Korean peninsula in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces. Arising out of the confluence of Gojoseon migration and the Jin state federation, Mahan was one of the Samhan ("Three Hans"), along with Byeonhan and Jinhan. Baekje began as a member statelet, but later overtook all of Mahan and became one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Mahan probably developed from the existing bronze society of third to second centuries BC, continuing to absorb migration from the north in subsequent centuries. King Jun of the kingdom of Gojoseon in northern Korea, having lost the throne to Wiman, fled to the state of Jin state in southern Korea around 194 - 180 BC. He and his followers are thought to have established a base within Jin territory. It is not certain whether Mahan conquered or arose out of this entity, but Mahan was certainly influenced by this influx of northern culture.

Further migration followed the fall of Gojoseon and establishment of the Chinese commanderies in the Liaoning region in 108 BC. It is described in the Chinese chronicle San Guo Zhi and the much later Korean chronicles Samguk Yusa and Samguk Sagi.

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