kingdom · Korea and Japan

Tamna

476 CE – 1105 CE (approx.) · capital Jeju

The island kingdom of Jeju, which kept its own rulers for six centuries as a tributary of Korean kingdoms before Goryeo made it a county in 1105.

Origins

Jeju legend tells of three founders, ancestors of the Go, Yang and Bu clans, who emerged from holes in the ground at Samseonghyeol and married princesses who arrived by sea. Tamna first appears in the Samguk sagi in 476, when it sent tribute to Baekje.

Rule and society

The island was ruled by hereditary lords with the titles seongju and wangja, drawn from the Go clan. Tamna lived from fishing, diving and farming on volcanic soil and traded with Korea, China and Japan, sending envoys to the Tang court and to Japan in the 7th century. It paid tribute to Baekje, then to Silla after 662, and to Goryeo from 938.

Decline and legacy

Goryeo turned Tamna into a county in 1105, ending its formal autonomy, though local lords kept their titles until the early Joseon period. The island was renamed Jeju in the early 13th century.

Lineage

TamnaGoryeo 918 CE – 1392 CE

Connections (2)

  • Tamna paid tribute to Baekje476 CE – 660 CE
  • Tamna paid tribute to Silla662 CE – 935 CE

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻