Gallifreyan History

This page will outline the History of Gallifrey from the beginning of life on the planet to post-Time War Gallifrey.

The Origin of Life
Around the year -9,999,996,500 (or 13,500,014,400 BC), the first Ancestor Cell came from a time zone of formative continuum outside the Noosphere of a normal TARDIS's capabilities. All naturally evolving life in the Universe descended from a single Ancestor Cell likely had the ability to reproduce and evolve. These cells were not the first living things, but the organisms that evolved from them were. These organisms spawned all naturally evolving (ie non-deliberate) life in the Universe before they died out.

The Ancestor Cells were unique in that they (and their "decendants" for the first few trillion generations)  were immune to the effects of entropy, giving them the ability to evolve.

While the first living cells eventually die out, the Ancestor Cells remained and over the next several billion years it feeds on the time pollution from various TT Capsules.

The Formation of Gallifrey
In the year -5,110,000,000 (or 8,112,027,893 BC) Gallifrey's system formed, which is relatively early in galactic history. It is one of the first of what will eventually be 650 million systems with planets that have (meaning they can support life). It will be located very near the center of Mutter's Stellian Spiral (named after the famous explorer Mutter Stellian and also known as the Milky Way Galaxy).

The Untempered Schism forms on Gallifrey. It will effect all evolution on Gallifrey, eventually leading to the evolution of the ultimate life form: the Time Lords. All of that, however, is still billions of years away.

In the year -3,000,000,000 (6,502,027,893 BC), Gallifrey's first sun ignites, and the planet begins orbiting it.

Event 1 occurs in -1,500,000,000 (the year 5,000,000,000 BC); a massive singularity starts to form in the middle of what would become the galaxy. Mutter's Stellian Spiral Galaxy (aka the Milky Way) forms out of a huge in rush of hydrogen. The time force of this event is so immense that it is almost impossible for a TARDIS to escape its field. The resulting radiation from this singularity blasts the galaxy free of all its remaining interstellar hydrogen and helium. The formations of Gallifrey, Kasterborous, and Mutter's Spiral are now complete.

Early Life on Gallifrey
In -600,000,000 (4,012,027,893 BC), life from the Ancestor Cell arrives on Gallifrey and begins to evolve. These lifeforms moved quickly up the evolutionary ladder, since the Untempered Schism affects the evolution of life on Gallifrey. By -10,000,000 Neanderthal Gallifreyans have evolved. These Gallifreyan Neanderthals did not evolve from anything embarrassing (like apes). The Constructors of Destiny modified the Gallifreyan Neanderthals to fulfill their destiny, and the Untempered Schism continued to affect the development of these beings. They formed the first civilization.

Early Gallifreyan Civilization
Gallifreyans began as a Level 1 Society mastering fire. These war-like humanoids called themselves Gallifreyans, which means "they that walk in shadows". The year marked the beginning of Gallifreyan civilization, where they built numerous walled cities, eventually entering the Bronze and Iron ages of a Level 2 civilization around the year -8,014,500. The early Gallifreyans had many wars, periods of regression, and periods of progress.

Because of the Untempered Schism's presence, early Gallifreyans might have developed a way of measuring time instinctively as a survival trait. This could explain why the species is later obsessed with conquering Time.

Ancient Gallifreyan Religion
Due to the influence of the Untempered Schism on Gallifreyan evolution, telepathy became common among the population. Each city developed its own Academia to train these telepaths. The Academia's are run by priests of the Menti Celesti, Gallifreyan gods made up of Pain, Death, and Time (aka the daughter of the Timewyrm). Gallifrey's moon of Pazithi Gallifreya is also worshipped during this time. The Gallifreyan gods have the following colors attributed to them:  Red and Black for Pain, White for Death, and a shifting Gray color for Time. Prayer to the gods is usually conducted by individuals in a private setting. The Menti Celesti are abstract universal conceptual entities, a non-corporeal beings that can control time, and fate. Early in their history the Gallifreyans came to believe that if they killed all the evil people in the universe then the good people who remained would become evil. Light can not exist without darkness; if evil were destroyed then good would vanish as well.

The Rise of the Pythia
The ability to see the future became an ability that can only be attained by female telepaths. These visionaries developed their powers by staring into the Untempered Schism, but the development of precognition was extremely rare. Their minds were connected and nearly merged with the Astral Vortex. They could see the future of specific people, places, and species in amazing detail. Those women who spent too much time with their minds in the Vortex, became disconnected and catatonic. In the City of Prydos the Order of the Sisterhood gained such power and foresight that it comes to dominate the cities of Gallifrey's southern continent. In -8,011,500 the Age of the Pythias beings with the rule of the City by the first Pythia. She was also the symbol of the planet's fertility, Mouthpiece of the Gods, and Guardian of the Great Book of Future Legends. The incredible life-spans of the Pythia might have been due to them being fixed in time, or perhaps they had access to the Elixir of Karn. To see the future, a Pythia sat in a wicker cage in the Cavern of Prophecy, under the adytum of Temple. She was suspended over the Crevasse of Memories That Will Be. The Crevasse might have beeen the location of the Untempered Schism. The smoky vapors from the Crevasse allowed her to achieve the state of clairvoyant and the state of clairaudiant. Attendants of the Pythian Order wore rust red robes. Pythian seers ate fish tongues. The Court of Principals governed under the Pythia. The Councilors of this court formed a meritocracy.

Under the rule of the Pythia, Gallifrey became a mighty empire, with colonies across the galaxy. It wasn't  until the year -57 that the first Gallifreyan colony planet demanded its independence. Despite leading Gallifrey into a golden age as far as power went, the Pythia were against the use of technology. Despite this, Gallifreyans made many technological advancements, making them a "shadow people"; trapped between the warm darkness of magic and the cold light of science. This is likely why Gallifrey means "they that walk in shadows".

Technological Advancements
Though the Pythia were against the use of reason and conidered technology a necessary evil, Gallifreyan technology advanced at an extremely advanced rate. Gallifreyans perfected initial industrialization rather quickly, first mastering gunpowder and becoming a Level 3 society and then moving on to Level 4 after mastering steam power (this happened so quickly that no dates are available for when these advances happened). -8,010,890 marked the advent of electricity, quickly elevating Gallifrey from steam to atomic power and becoming a Level 4 society. A mere thirty years later, manned space flight and interplanetary probes were developed, making Gallifrey's people a Level 5 society. Three hundred years after this, the first Pythia unites all of Gallifrey under her rule and, at the same time, Gallifreyans tap in to the full potential of Gallifrey, making them a fully-fledged Type 1 civilization. In -8,010,650, the first manned interstellar probe, and at some unknown time after this mastered their solar system, making them a Tye 2 civilization.