tribal confederation · Korea and Japan

Mahan

100 BCE – 369 CE (approx.) · capital Mokji-guk

The largest of the three Samhan confederacies, a group of some fifty-four statelets in western Korea from which the kingdom of Baekje emerged.

Origins

Mahan took shape around the 1st century BCE in what are now Gyeonggi, Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces. Its leading statelet, Mokji-guk, supplied a Jin king recognised as head of the confederacy, and King Jun of Gojoseon is said to have fled here around 194 BCE.

Rule and society

Chinese records describe fifty-four statelets of varying size living by rice farming in unwalled settlements. Each had sacred precincts called sodo, ruled by priests where fugitives could find refuge, and festivals after sowing in the fifth month and after harvest in the tenth. The Yeongsan river area developed distinctive large jar-coffin burials.

Decline and legacy

Baekje-guk, one Mahan statelet near the Han river, rose to dominate the rest; King Geunchogo is usually credited with subduing the southern remnants around 369. Jar-coffin elites in the far southwest kept some independence into the 5th century.

Lineage

Jin (Korean state) 300 BCE – 100 BCEMahan

Connections (2)

Baekje split from Mahan18 BCE
Mahan was conquered by Baekje369 CE

More states of Korea and Japan →

Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Mahan. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mahan
MLA: “Mahan.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mahan. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Mahan.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mahan.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Mahan’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mahan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻