Dal (species)

The Dals were a race native to the planet Skaro.

500 years after the Thousand Year War Thal records claimed the Dals were the "forebears" of the Dalek race. (TV: "The Ambush") However this was inaccurate, the Daleks were actually descended from the Kaleds. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks)

The Thals believed the Dals were a race of teachers and philosophers. (TV: "The Escape")

The Dals were extinct by the time of the Thousand Year War between the Thals and the Kaleds, as were the Tharons, as a result of a programme of genocide orchestrated by the Kaled government. A few words of the Dals' language were still known to the Kaleds centuries later, such as "Varga" meaning "devourer". (AUDIO: Purity)

Davros, the creator of the Daleks, found a prophecy in the forbidden Book of Predictions, written in the extinct language of the Dals, which stated "...and on that day, men will become as gods." In the original language, the final word was pronounced "Dal-ek." (AUDIO: Guilt)

Varna, a Kaled from the time of the Thousand Year War, said that "Dal" was a Kaled word for warrior. (AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro)

Behind the scenes

 * The television story The Daleks names the Dals as the predecessors of the Daleks. The television story Genesis of the Daleks, which actually showed the creation of the Daleks, contradicted this and named the Daleks' ancestors as the Kaleds.
 * It is never stated that Daleks were biological descendants of the Dals, but simply their successors. Davros was inspired to create the Daleks by Dal prophecy, in this sense the Daleks are the spiritual if not the biological children of the Dals..