Nobody knows exactly when the Clanhold came into being, and detailed accounts of the Biraka's history prior to attaining space age technology are virtually nonexistent and mostly allegorical. Stories told by the Biraka mention warring with other "clans" on their homeworld before they took to the stars. Given the Biraka's use of the term this may mean that the Biraka homeworld of Bastis was home to multiple intelligent species, or that the Biraka may have been one sub-species of many that were of common descent. Regardless of the case what is known is that the Biraka warred these other clans out of existence. This near mythical period in the Biraka's history was known as the Great Clan War.