Samhan

Samhan, or Three Hans (), is the collective name of the three confederacies: Byeonhan, Jinhan, and Mahan that emerged in the first century BCE during the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea, or Samhan, period. Located in the central and southern regions of the Korean Peninsula, the Samhan confederacies eventually merged and developed into the Paekche, Silla kingdoms and Kaya confederacy. The name "Samhan" also refers to the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

== History == The Samhan are thought to have formed around the time of the fall of Old Chosŏn in northern Korea in 108 BCE. Kim Pusik's Samguk sagi, one of the two representative history books of Korea, mentions that people of Jin Han are migrants from Old Chosŏn, which suggests that early Han tribes who came to Southern Korean peninsula are originally Old Chosŏn people; this coincides with the state of Jin in southern Korea also disappearing from written records. By the 4th century, Mahan was fully absorbed into the Paekche kingdom, Jinhan into the Silla kingdom, and Byeonhan into the Kaya confederacy, which was later annexed by Silla.