The undoubted rulers of the Amarr Empire are the True Amarr, a race that rose to power over their home planet of Athra of The EVE Online Isk, known to the modern world as Amarr Prime, through a religious crusade called "the Reclaiming". In the course of the Athran Reclaiming, the True Amarr conquered, enslaved and eventually absorbed the Udorian people. Additionally, they gained a powerful subject people that became known as the Khanid, from the Amarr for "little lords". While the Udorians were absorbed entirely into the True Amarr culture, the Khanid retained their ethnic characteristics and aspects of their own culture. Valued by the True Amarr as warriors, the Khanid came to occupy a relatively high status within Amarr society.

When the Amarr went into space and explored their home system, they discovered a disabled stargate and were able to reverse-engineer much technology from it. Once warp and jump technology were available, the Amarr in the  EVE Online Isk  began to spread out from their home system and establish colonies around nearby stars. Over several centuries, the Amarr spread across a vast domain, sometimes encountering other races. Without exception, the fanatical Amarr conquered and either enslaved or exterminated these races. Their Khanid soldiers were always at the forefront of such invasions, such as the conquest of Mishi IV, the home planet of the Ni-Kunni.

In the years  The EVE Online Isk  following their enslavement, many Ni-Kunni earned their freedom and their children were born as free subjects of the Empire. The Amarr Empire's enslavement of the entire Minmatar race provided an enormous influx of new slaves that accelerated the emancipation of most Ni-Kunni. Today, almost all Ni-Kunni are free subjects. As a result, Amarr capsuleers are drawn from three bloodlines constituting the free peoples of the Empire: the True Amarr, Khanid and Ni-Kunni