• History

    The Conquered – The Gaya Confederacy (42 – 562 A.D.)

    The Gaya Confederacy existed from 42 A.D. to 562 A.D. It was situated in the south-eastern corner of the Korean peninsula near the Nakdong River basin around present day Busan and the Gyeongsangnam-do area. The Gaya Confederacy was centred around Geungwan Gaya (present day Gimhae). It was a small confederacy of city-states that grew out of the Byeonhan Confederacy, which consisted of twelve states. In total, there were six loosely organized city-states in the Gaya Confederacy. The Gaya Confederacy gained its independence from the Byeonhan Confederacy sometime during the late 3rd century. And while there are very few written records that can point to a definitive transitional period in Gaya…