Geumgwan Gaya
Encyclopedia
Geumgwan Gaya also known as Bon-Gaya (본가야, 本伽倻, "original Gaya") or Garakguk (가락국, "Garak State"), was the ruling city-state of the Gaya confederacy
during the Three Kingdoms Period
in Korea
. It is believed to have been located around the modern-day city of Gimhae
, Southern Gyeongsang province
, near the mouth of the Nakdong River
. Due to its geographic location, this kingdom played a dominant role in the regional affairs from the Byeonhan
period onward to the end of the Gaya confederacy.
According to the Samguk Yusa
, Geumgwan Kaya was made of 9 villages united by King Suro of Gaya. His wife and queen Heo Hwang-ok
, whom he married in 48 AD, is believed to be a princess from the Ayodhya region in what is now India
, although this may have been an embellishment made during later Buddhist times.
During this early time in the history of Gaya, several waves of migration from the north, including the earlier-extant Gojoseon
, Buyeo
, and the Goguryeo
, arrived and integrated with existing populations and stimulated cultural and political developments. A sharp break in burial styles is found in archaeological sites dated near the late 3rd century AD, when these migrations are to have taken place. Burial forms associated with North Asian nomadic peoples, such as the burial of horses with the dead, suddenly replace earlier forms in the tombs of the elite (Cheol 2000). In addition, evidence exists indicating that earlier burials were systematically destroyed. In the early 1990s, a royal tomb complex was unearthed in Daeseong-dong, Gimhae
, attributed to Geumgwan Gaya but apparently used since Byeonhan times.
After Geumgwan Gaya capitulated to Silla
in 532 AD, its royal house was accepted into the Sillan aristocracy (probably because by that time, a major house of Silla, of the Gimhae Kim clan, was related to the Gaya royal house, which was also of the same clan) and given the rank of "true bone," the second-highest level of the Silla bone rank system
. General Kim Yu-shin of Silla (also of the Gimhae Kim clan) was a descendant of the last king of Gaya.
File:GayaironarmorFINAL.JPG|Gaya armour
File:PressapochistaA.jpg|Gaya crown
File:Pressapochista17.jpg|Gaya pottery
Gaya confederacy
Gaya was a confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period.The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is 42–532 CE...
during the Three Kingdoms Period
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...
in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. It is believed to have been located around the modern-day city of Gimhae
Gimhae
Gimhae, also commonly spelled Kimhae, is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Gimhae is known to locals as "The Paris of Gyeongsangnamdo." It is the seat of the large Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim clans in Korea...
, Southern Gyeongsang province
Gyeongsangnam-do
Gyeongsangnam-do is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is located at Changwon. It contains the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. Located there is UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple that houses the Tripitaka Koreana and attracts many...
, near the mouth of the Nakdong River
Nakdong River
The Nakdong River is the longest river in South Korea, and passes through major cities such as Daegu and Busan.-Geography:...
. Due to its geographic location, this kingdom played a dominant role in the regional affairs from the Byeonhan
Byeonhan confederacy
Byeonhan, also known as Byeonjin, was a loose confederacy of chiefdoms that existed from around the beginning of the Common Era to the 4th century in the southern Korean peninsula...
period onward to the end of the Gaya confederacy.
According to the Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa
Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends, folktales, and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea , as well as to other periods and states before, during, and after the Three Kingdoms period.The text was written in Classical Chinese, which was...
, Geumgwan Kaya was made of 9 villages united by King Suro of Gaya. His wife and queen Heo Hwang-ok
Heo Hwang-ok
Heo Hwang-ok was a princess who travelled from the ancient kingdom of Ayodhya to Korea. Information about her comes almost entirely from a few short passages in the Samguk Yusa, an 11th-century Korean chronicle. According to that chronicle, she arrived on a boat and married King Suro of Gaya in...
, whom he married in 48 AD, is believed to be a princess from the Ayodhya region in what is now India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, although this may have been an embellishment made during later Buddhist times.
During this early time in the history of Gaya, several waves of migration from the north, including the earlier-extant Gojoseon
Gojoseon
Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom. Go , meaning "ancient," distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty; Joseon, as it is called in contemporaneous writings, is also romanized as Chosŏn....
, Buyeo
Buyeo (state)
Buyeo or Puyŏ , Fuyu in Chinese, was an ancient Korean kingdom located from today's Manchuria to northern North Korea, from around the 2nd century BC to 494. Its remnants were absorbed by the neighboring and brotherhood kingdom of Goguryeo in 494...
, and the Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....
, arrived and integrated with existing populations and stimulated cultural and political developments. A sharp break in burial styles is found in archaeological sites dated near the late 3rd century AD, when these migrations are to have taken place. Burial forms associated with North Asian nomadic peoples, such as the burial of horses with the dead, suddenly replace earlier forms in the tombs of the elite (Cheol 2000). In addition, evidence exists indicating that earlier burials were systematically destroyed. In the early 1990s, a royal tomb complex was unearthed in Daeseong-dong, Gimhae
Gimhae
Gimhae, also commonly spelled Kimhae, is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Gimhae is known to locals as "The Paris of Gyeongsangnamdo." It is the seat of the large Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim clans in Korea...
, attributed to Geumgwan Gaya but apparently used since Byeonhan times.
After Geumgwan Gaya capitulated to Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...
in 532 AD, its royal house was accepted into the Sillan aristocracy (probably because by that time, a major house of Silla, of the Gimhae Kim clan, was related to the Gaya royal house, which was also of the same clan) and given the rank of "true bone," the second-highest level of the Silla bone rank system
Bone rank system
The bone rank system was the system of aristocratic rank used in the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. It was used to segregate society, and particularly the layers of the aristocracy, on the basis of their hereditary proximity to the throne and the level of authority they were permitted to wield...
. General Kim Yu-shin of Silla (also of the Gimhae Kim clan) was a descendant of the last king of Gaya.
File:GayaironarmorFINAL.JPG|Gaya armour
File:PressapochistaA.jpg|Gaya crown
File:Pressapochista17.jpg|Gaya pottery
See also
- History of KoreaHistory of KoreaThe Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...
- List of Korean monarchs
- Gaya confederacyGaya confederacyGaya was a confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period.The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is 42–532 CE...
- List of Korea-related topics