Prakiti, designated P3-575—as well as P3A-575—by the Tau'ri, was one of the first planets (apart from Abydos and Chulak) visited by Humans from Earth. P3-575 was one of the planets selected by Major General George S. Hammond for SG's -1 and -2 to travel to. After discovering that Major Charles Kawalsky was harboring a Goa'uld and was killed, SG-1 proceeded to P3-575. (SG1: "The Enemy Within")
History[]
Early colonization[]
Prakiti was an arid world, the predominant terrain being rocky and barren, on which the Stargate was located in a semi-arid desert with nearby scrubland as well as several small lakes. The people of Prakiti were originally brought to the planet from Earth by the Goa'uld Indra, the Hindu Thunder God, for reasons unknown. Because of the planets arid nature, however, they would not have survived long if it had not been for an irrigation system designed and implemented by Indra himself. Indra designed this extensive and, for the people of Prakiti, sophisticated system to draw water from underground reservoirs before transporting it vast distances in order to get to the populace. The system itself was a remarkable achievement for the people, and was one of many reasons that they though of Indra as a kind god.
Another reason for this line of thinking was that Indra spent very little time on the planet, leaving most of the command decisions for his specially trained Jaffa, the Maruts, who were drawn from the local population which meant that they had familial connections to their people and made them somewhat competent governors. It was these Jaffa, as well as Indra's Human servants, which were tasked with bringing water to the parched communities which dotted the habitable areas of Prakiti. The end result of Indra's actions meant that the people of Prakiti survived for several hundred years with a bare minimum of upkeep.
During these years, the planet was united under Indra's rule and the central city, Saravad, held most of the planets population as well as being the location of the Palace of the Thunder God, the one place that Indra stayed on the rare occasions that he visited Prakiti. It was here that the Jaffa and Indra's advisers were housed, and was the location of research labs as well as other rooms which served Indra. If the people of Prakiti wished to petition Indra, they would make their way to the Palace where they would be met with a senior Jaffa or Human adviser who would, in theory, relay the message to Indra himself. In actuality, however, it was these servants that would make the decisions in place of their absent god.
The society of the planet was a relatively simple one and, despite its Hindu origins, they did not transfer any sort of caste system from Earth to their new home. Instead of this, honor and social importance were judged by political proximity to Indra and his servants on the planet. As such, those who served Prakiti directly were considered to be of a much higher standing than any other beings on the planet, with people whose service was mediated in some way below them. The rest of the people lived their simple lives as farmers, craftsmen, and herders of animals—such as the kadaiva—as well as providing themselves as hosts to Goa'uld symbiotes which Indra brought to the planet. Becoming a host was considered to be a singular honor, carrying with it much prestige, though it is doubtful that the people knew the truth of what happened.
Due to Indra's absent position, the people of Prakiti led comparatively good lives and were largely left to their own devices. Though they did still worship Indra as their god, their worship was lively and colorful with numerous festivals held, supposedly, in Indra's honor; in truth they held little religious content, and were primarily raucous gatherings which marked the turning of seasons as well as other events. If anything, Indra played only a minor role in Prakiti culture; although they did accept him as their god, they had an almost agnostic approach to him; they never outright denied Indra's existence or divinity, but their affirmation of both of these beliefs was simply lackluster and reserved. Had Indra ever chose to come back to his people, he would have seen that these people were no longer the slaves they had once been.
Invasion[]
The people would have remained in this state had it not been for the invasion of Vritra, a rival System Lord of Indra's who routed Indra's forces from the planet and took it as his own. As soon as he had accomplished this, Vritra immediately set about changing Prakiti's society to suit his own needs. No longer did the population live simple lives filled with colourful festivals, instead Vritra enlisted a large number to server as miners who would bore into the planet's deep crust to find what Vritra called a mysterious cache of "treasure". Though Vritra thought that he was digging towards an Ancient cache, what he did not know was that no such cache existed. Despite this, Vritra nevertheless forced the people to mine through use of his own Jaffa, the asuras.
However, within a few months of Vritra's takeover, an insurrection began against him led by the Maruts whose ranks were now made of Humans who had taken up the no longer present Jaffa. This very act began a lengthy war, the Maruts attempting to bolster their ranks from the local population. Unfortunately for the people, the Maruts were no match for the superior firepower and numbers of the asuras despite their valiant effort. Indra's people continued to fight on despite this, believing that one day their god would return from the stars to free his people. Strangely enough, Indra's reputation among his people only increased in his absence and most of the people did not even remember that he was a Goa'uld. However, should Indra return, it was unlikely that he would be the saviour that his people thought he was, and would simply displace Vritra as the ruler of Prakiti.
Since Vritra's invasion and subsequent subjugation of the planet, the people have lived unpleasant lives. The mines that Vritra ordered dug simply grew deeper each year, drawing more and more of the population into them and taking them away from tending to the population's basic needs. The asuras acted as a local police force, wandering the local communities to search for any signs of rebellion. Whenever they discovered Maruts, or indeed any who would aid them, the asuras killed them on the spot though beings who were simply suspected of sympathizing were often assassinated in the night. (RPG: "Fantastic Frontiers: Stargate Season One")
Contact with the Tau'ri[]
In 1997, Prakiti was chosen to be one of the first locations—other than Abydos and Chulak—to be visited by the Tau'ri of Stargate Command. It, along with P3A-577, were chosen as planets to be visited by SG's -1 and -2. Though Colonel Jack O'Neill initially requested that SG-1 be sent to P3-575, Major General George S. Hammond assigned the mission to Major Charles Kawalsky's SG-2. However, when it was discovered that Kawalsky had been infected with a Goa'uld symbiote, the mission was put on hold until the SGC could remove it from his body. Despite their best efforts, the Tau'ri were unable to do so and Kawalsky died before he could visit Prakiti.
Rather than scrap the mission, SG-1 were sent to P3-575 in SG-2's place. It is unknown precisely what happened during their visit, but it is known that SG-1 managed to survive their visit to Prakiti largely unharmed and were able to return to Earth. (SG1: "The Enemy Within")