Grey Council - Earth - Minbari War

Minbari War

During a period concluding in the mid 2240's, the Grey Council was led by Dukhat, until his death during a disastrous first contact with humans. The Council's cruiser encountered a flotilla of Earth Alliance ships, and approached with gun ports open, a gesture of respect in the tradition of the Minbari Warrior Caste. The earth ships (under command of a captain with a reputation for recklessness) misinterpreted the gesture as prelude to an attack and attacked the Council's ship. Dukhat suffered fatal injuries in the attack. Voting 5-4 - the fifth vote provided by a grief-stricken Delenn - The Council declared war on humanity. Over the next two years, the Minbari overcame tenacious resistance and routed Earth forces.

During their final assault at Earth, a battle that became known as the Battle of the Line, the council took Jeffrey Sinclair prisoner for questioning. Interrogating him using a triluminary, the council learned that Sinclair had the soul of Valen. Minbari believe in a form of reincarnation, where the souls of each generation are reborn into the next; faced with a human with a Minbari soul, the council concluded that Minbari souls were being reborn in Humans. Traditionally, Minbari do not kill Minbari, presenting the council with an acute ethical dilemma: the war against the humans had become a war in which Minbari were unwittingly killing people with Minbari souls. The Council decided, however, that neither Minbari nor Humans were ready for this truth. Sinclair's memories of the interrogation were erased, and the Warrior caste Generals were told to surrender - but not why. The perception that this was done by the Religious Caste (although the decision was made by the council, in which the Warrior Caste had as many votes as the Religious Caste) resulted in a rift forming between the Religious and Warrior Castes, culminating in a brief civil war after the Grey Council was broken by Delenn.