Dakara

Dakara is a Milky Way planet controlled at various times by the Ancients, the Goa'uld, and the Free Jaffa Nation.

Background
The planet was originally inhabited by the Ancients; it was the first planet they landed on when they arrived in the Milky Way. On the planet they built a superweapon monument that once gave a rebirth to life in this galaxy following the devastation of a great plague that had swept through. The controls for the weapon lie in a small chamber hidden behind a wall with a complex puzzle acting as a lock. A Stargate lies at the base of this monument, and when the device is properly reprogrammed it would allow the energy field to pass through and spread to all of the gates in the Milky Way.

After the disappearances of the Ancients the planet apparently came under control of the Goa'uld. The System Lords were aware that a powerful weapon on Dakara existed, but were unable to find it. The planet served a sinister role for the Goa'uld who used it to enslave the Jaffa. According to the stories told by the Jaffa, Dakara was the planet where their enslavement began, as it was the site of the first Prim'tah ritual. At the Temple, Jaffa were given their strength and symbiotes. The temple is the ultimate holy ground of the Goa'uld, who kept the Jaffa loyal by propagating lies that they were gods. The very idea of stepping into Dakara was unthinkable to the Jaffa.

Around the end of the reign of the Goa'uld the planet lay deep within Ba'al's former territory, making a claim to the planet tactically unsound. He kept a number of Ha'taks in range of the world to guard it from such an incursion.

The humanoid Replicator copy of Samantha Carter wished to destroy the weapon, knowing it could be reprogrammed to eliminate all Replicator forces in the galaxy. The Goa'uld Anubis wished to use this weapon to rebuild the galaxy to his own specifications.

Jaffa Revolution
Free Jaffa Ha'taks engage evasive maneuvers over Dakara. From "Reckoning, Part 2." Teal'c believed the key to bringing Jaffa together, both by a strategic position and an example of their strength, was to capture the planet and hold it in the name of Free Jaffa. After a long and bloody campaign they managed to fend off Goa'uld and Replicator forces and maintain the world for themselves. Once they fortified their position, the weapon was located by Colonel Samantha Carter and with the aid of her father, Jacob Carter, his Tok'ra symbiote, Selmak, and the System Lord Ba'al, modified and used it to wipe out all Replicators from the galaxy. The capture of the planet proved to the majority of Jaffa still in servitude, that the Goa'uld were not in fact gods. This led to a general revolt by the Jaffa against their masters. Combined with the weakened state the Goa'uld were left in after their war with the Replicators and the result was the overthrowing of the System Lords and the all out collapse of the Goa'uld Empire. Jaffa from across the galaxy arrived on Dakara to make it their home and commence the establishment of a democratic government.

Months later, the Free Jaffa Nation officially emerged, and a leader was voted into office: Gerak, former First Prime of the Goa'uld Montu. With Ba'al and all other significant Goa'uld defeated, the Free Jaffa continue to inhabit Dakara, building structures of stone and a strong society that hopes to spread into the rest of the galaxy.

Destruction
During the Ori invasion of the Milky Way, the Free Jaffa, under the leadership of Se'tak, used the superweapon to destroy the crews of an Ori warship. Adria then took the cruiser to Dakara and utterly devastated the planet, destroying the temple containing the weapon and killing most of the Free Jaffa Nation's political leadership although the Stargate was apparently not buried or destroyed as SG-1 was later able to return. (SG-1:Counterstrike)

Ruins of Dakara
After the seemingly successful deployment of Merlin's Ori-killing weapon, Earth remained faced with the threat of their fanatical worshipers, still waging a crusade of conquest and destruction against the Milky Way galaxy with a fleet of unstoppable ships and mass armies led by the still-powerful Priors of the Ori. In hopes of finding a weapon against these invaders, SG-1 eventually returned to Dakara in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the Ark of Truth, an ancient device reputed to have the power to compel the target to disbelieve the Ori "gods". Attacked by Ori troops (led by Vala's estranged husband Tomin), they were able to kill the commanding Prior (having neutralized his powers with a scrambler device). Tomin's shaken faith in the divinity of the Ori and the morality of their crusade then abandoned him completely, and he surrendered to SG-1 to return to Earth and assist in their mission while attempting to come to terms with his wrong-doing.

In the ruins, Dr. Daniel Jackson located a locked stone chest which he believed to be the ark. On the chest was an inscription in the oldest known dialect of Ancient which read Safely kept is the "something" of old. While he was attempting to open it, the Ori army launched an attack with ships and troopers. Mitchell and Carter, who were guarding the Stargate, were forced to retreat to the dig site, where SG-1 became trapped. Tomin revealed himself as the commander of the Ori troops, warning that a ship in orbit was ready to destroy the dig site but promising SG-1 that they would be spared if they surrendered. Unable to pry open the chest, they decided to accept his offer, hoping the Ori forces would open the chest for them and be freed from loyalty to the Ori in the process. A Prior revealed himself and asked the prisoners what the chest was. Jackson told the Prior that inside the Ark was the secret to destroying the armies of the Ori, fairly warning him that he should be afraid of the contents. The Prior defiantly ordered it to opened and Tomin blasted the lid off after his soldiers could not open it otherwise. It was then revealed to merely be a chest containing old scrolls (which crumbled when picked up). The Prior then ordered Tomin to kill SG-1 but Tomin protested as he had given his word they would be spared. The Prior grabbed Tomin, yelling for him to kill the prisoners; in the confusion, Mitchell seized a nearby Ori soldier and used his weapon to kill the Prior. Tomin then surrendered to SG-1 and came back with them to Earth.