Jaredite kings are a series of monarchs described in the Book of Mormon, comprising chapters 6:22-15 of the Book of Ether. As death was approaching Jared and his brother, gathered together the Jaredite people to ask them what they desired of them before they died. The people then requested that they anoint one of their sons as king. This was grievous to them, and the brother of Jared remarked that "surely this thing leadeth into captivity."[1] Despite his brother's misgivings, Jared pressed him to allow the establishment of a Jaredite kingship at which suggestion the brother of Jared yielded.[2]
The people chose Pagag, the firstborn of the brother of Jared. He initially refused. The people then wished to force him to be king but the brother of Jared would not allow that. They suggested his sons, Jacom, Gilgah, and Mahah, but they refused to be king. Then, Pagag finally agreed to be king. Thus began the institution of monarchy among the Jaredites sometime after the Tower of Babel and the arrival of the Jaredites in the Americas.
