Tamna

As the kingdom was founded during pre-literary history, there is no discovered historical record of the founding or early history of Tamna. One legend tells that the three divine founders of the country—Go (고), Yang (양), and Bu (부)—emerged from three holes in the ground in the 24th century BC. These holes, known as the Samseonghyeol (삼성혈), are still preserved in Jeju City.[3][4]

According to legend, after Yang Eulna (양을나/楊乙那)[5] came to Jeju Island, a semi-mythical box washed up on the shore of the island. Yang Ul-la searched in the box and found three women, horses, cows, and agricultural seeds such as rice, corn, grain, millet, barley, and bamboo. From these beginnings, the three men established the kingdom of Tamna. He is regarded as the legendary ancestor of Yang Tang, the founder of the Jeju Yang bon-gwan.[6][7]

However, there are archaeological evidence indicates that the people of Tamna were engaging in active trade with other Asian countries such as Han Dynasty China, Yayoi Japan, the Kingdom of Singapore, the Srivijaya Empire, the Tamil Chola dynasty, as well as mainland Korea, as early as the 1st century AD up until its dissolution. The first historical reference to the kingdom may come in the 3rd century AD, in the chronicle of the Chinese Three Kingdoms period called the Sanguozhi. The Sanguozhi reports a strange people living on a large island near Korea, which it calls Juho (州胡, Late Han Chinese tɕu-ga, literally "island barbarians").[8] These people, who had a distinctive language and culture, engaged in trade with the Mahan people of the mainland. However, the identity of Juho with Tamna has been disputed by authorities such as the North Korean scholar Lee Ch'i-rin (이지린), who claims that Juho was a small island in the Yellow Sea. Tamna is pronounced Dānluó (Wade-Giles: Tan¹-luo²) in Standard Mandarin Chinese.

In 476, according to the Samguk Sagi, Tamna entered into a tributary relationship with Baekje, which controlled the southwestern Korean peninsula as Tamna gave military aide with some sort of money, and enjoyed strong ties with Japan. It was thus a natural partner for Tamna. As Baekje waned, Tamna turned to Silla instead. At some point near the end of the Three Kingdoms period, Tamna officially subjugated itself to Silla. Silla then conferred on the three princes of Tamna the titles which they would hold for the remainder of the kingdom's history: Seongju (성주, 星主), Wangja (왕자, 王子), and Donae (도내, 都內). Some sources indicate that this took place during the reign of King Munmu of Silla in the late 7th century AD.

Tamna briefly reclaimed its independence after the fall of Silla in 935. However, it was subjugated by the Goryeo Dynasty in 938, and officially annexed in 1105. However, the kingdom maintained local autonomy until 1404, when Taejong of Joseon placed it under firm central control and brought the Tamna kingdom to an end. One interesting event that took place during these later years of Tamna was the Sambyeolcho Rebellion, which came to a bloody end on Jeju Island in 1274.

Alexander Vovin (2013)[9] notes that the old name for Jeju Island is tammura, which can be analyzed in Japanese as tani mura たにむら (谷村 'valley settlement') or tami mura たみむら (民村 'people's settlement'). Thus, Vovin concluded that Japonic languages could have possibly be present on Jeju Island before being replaced by Koreanic speakers sometime before its ultimate annexation into Joseon.

The Go clan is the family name of the kings that ruled Tamna, and the first king was one of the three who emerged from the ground. The clan also became the future kings and governors of Tamna. Today, there exists some inhabitants on Jeju island with the surname "Go", possibly being descendants of the clan.

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea
• Three Kingdoms of Korea

• Naver Encyclopedia article (in Korean)
• Jeju Government's History and Culture of Tamna site (in English)