One of the most beloved and memorable characters among Star Wars fans has been Han Solo’s trusted friend, the Wookie warrior, Chewbacca. This interest in Chewie extended to his fellow Wookies and their homeworld of Kashyyyk.
Although Kashyyyk would technically be revealed during the infamous 1978 The Star Wars Holiday Special, it would not be until it appeared in Revenge Of The Sith in 2005 that the planet would become canon.
The earliest known reference to Kashyyyk would be in the early drafts of Return Of The Jedi in which the second Death Star would be built in orbit around the Wookie homeworld. The Empire would use the Wookies as slave labor in the construction of the deadly superweapon.
Later drafts would replace Kashyyyk with the forest moon of Endor and the Ewoks. However, the Wookie homeworld and its sights continued to interest fans over time. Various media would expand the information available on Kashyyyk and paint the image of a verdant jungle world.
The planet Kashyyyk is located in the southwestern quadrant of the galaxy and, as previously stated, is the homeworld of the tall, hairy, bipedal Wookies. During the time of the Republic, Kashyyyk was a loyal and longstanding member of the Galactic Senate. However, with the fall of the Republic, the planet became enslaved by the Galactic Empire and reclassified as G5-623.
Kashyyyk was a temperate planet and orbited a single star in the Mytaranor sector of the Mid Rim. It took the jungle planet 381 days to orbit its single star and it had three moons. The trees that covered the planet were known locally as wroshyr trees and were gigantic with over a thousand known varieties.
The Wookies would be inspired culturally and technologically by local flora and fauna, often incorporating designs found in nature or building communities around natural formations. The planet was inhabited primarily by approximately 56 million Wookies with a deep respect and cultural connection with the local nature of Kashyyyk.
This connection was displayed in how the Wookies chose to build their great cities. One such city, Kachirho was a coastal city built within and around the great wroshyr trees. During the occupation and enslavement of the planet by the Galactic Empire following the Clone Wars, the tyrannical government would negatively impact the natural balance.
The Empire blockaded the planet and used the Wookies for slave labor to strip the planet of its bountiful natural resources. Wookies would also be shipped to various regions throughout the planet to perform the most difficult and dangerous labor the Empire had to offer.
Despite the Imperial blockade, the Wookies fought valiantly to subvert the Empire’s grip on Kashyyyk and the Rebel Alliance would designate the planet as a safe world. In a daring mission led by Han Solo and the legendary Wookie Chewbacca following the Battle of Endor, the Wookies would gain their independence through a revolt against the local Imperial ruler, Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck.