Samhan

Samhan
Hangul	삼한
Hanja	三韓
Revised Romanization	Samhan
McCune–Reischauer	Samhan

The Samhan period of Korean history (also Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea) comprises confederacies of Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan in central and southern Korean peninsula, during the final century BCE and the early centuries CE. These confederacies were eventually absorbed into two of the Three Kingdoms of Korea by the 4th century CE. The Samhan period is generally considered a subdivision of the Three Kingdoms Period.

Sam (三) is a Sino-Korean word meaning "three," and Han is a Korean word meaning "great (one), grand, large, much, many" (speculated by some to be cognate with "khan" used in inner Asia for leaders). Han was transliterated into Chinese characters 韓, 幹, or 刊, but is unrelated with the Han in Han Chinese and the Chinese kingdoms and dynasties also called Han (漢). Ma means south, Byeon means shining and Jin means east. The names of these confederacies are reflected in the current name of South Korea, Daehan Minguk (literally, "Great Han People's Nation"). See Names of Korea.

The Samhan are thought to have formed around the time of the fall of Gojoseon in northern Korea in 108 BC, around when the state of Jin in southern Korea also disappears from written records. By the 4th century, Mahan was fully absorbed into the Baekje kingdom, Jinhan into the Silla kingdom, and Byeonhan into the Gaya confederacy, which was later annexed by Silla.

The Samhan are generally considered loose confederations of walled-town states. Each appears to have had a ruling elite, whose power was a mix of politics and shamanism. Although each state appears to have had its own ruler, there is no evidence of systematic succession.

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