Coruscanti Crusades

The Coruscant Crusades, also known as the Pagan Wars, were a series of interstellar invasions and genocides made by Republic warriors (referred to as Republic crusaders) who worshipped Coruscanti folk religion, which was the dominating religion of Coruscant and its many colonies, and was also the basis of thousands of religions over the course of galactic community's existence.

The ultimate goal of these crusades was to establishing Coruscanti folk religion as the standard religion of all Human worlds (save for the Jedi Order, who were largely atheist and instead worshipped the Force; these crusaders tolerated the Jedi Order as they were intertwined with the Republic government) and the extermination of non-humanoids.

For obvious reasons, the Jedi Order did not participate in these crusades and in fact resented them, and it was strong political opposition by Jedi representatives to the Republic government's religious fanatics that prevented the Republic from becoming a full-on theocracy.

History
Initially, these religious wars, often culminating in the conquest of "unfaithful" Human worlds (who were often referred to as "Pagans") were a government-backed project that called on armies from dozens of star systems; the majority of the early crusader armies originated from Coruscanti, Alderaan, and Corellia, as well as other worlds within their respective spheres of influence. It was estimated that in the first major crusade alone, more than 15 million Republic soldiers, armed with swords, primitive firearms, and vibrospears, were rallied for war. Eventually, the crusades received criticism from both the Jedi (who, despite not adhering to the religion, was intertwined with the Republic government and had a significant influence over Coruscanti laymen) and even Coruscant's religious civilian populations. While further crusades would take place, they would no longer consume Republic funds or call upon the formal armies of Republic worlds; instead, many religious leaders formed their own private militaries (often known as "chivalric orders") and, using funds provided by their own assets or secretly by their world's government, led armies and war fleets in invasions of Human populations that did not adhere to Coruscanti folk religion. These crusaders would secure their own territories after conquering Pagan worlds which became known as crusader states that considered themselves outside of Republic law and were governed by the chivalric order that conquered them; many of these religious warlords then became kings, the reign of some lasting only their lifetime and others lasting millennia onwards from successful dynasties. In most cases, the Republic government either supported or ignored the activities of these crusader states, while in some cases they waged war against some states and restored the area's traditional rulers. The longest and deadliest of these crusades included the invasions of the Tion Hegemony and the Alsakani empire, the first of which lasted over a century and the second going on and off for several millennia; in both of these lengthy crusades alone, more than 5 to 10 billion crusaders and Pagan warriors alike were killed, according to estimates by historians and military researchers. The wars with the Alsakani domain were initially religiously motivated, however these tensions later became less about religion and more about political domination, as even the armies of the Republic's least religious worlds became involved.

Some chivalric orders, although strictly militant against Pagans, showed compassion to faithful Humans (such as the Hospitallers, who provided medical services to religious civilians and guards for religious merchants and explorers). Others, such as the Templar Order and the Brothers of the Holy Sword, were more brutish in their operations and even committed genocide on populations within their own crusader states if any hint of unfaithfulness got around.

These early crusades each lasted decades and took place at different points from the Galactic Republic's formation in c. 25000 BBY until as late as 1000 BBY, when Coruscanti folk religion began phasing out among progressive populations and the Ruusan Reformation made the intolerance of foreign religions illegal. By this time, many of the surviving crusader states had evolved into other political entities that were less focused on their religious interests, if any. Remaining chivalric orders developed either into strictly civilian organizations that did charity work, or, more rarely, into religious extremists that continued their crusading as insurgents. Coruscanti folk religion did remain commonplace on some worlds, but had effectively become a much less violent religion compared to some others that existed in the galactic community in the coming times.