See also: Dardani

The terms Dardan and Dardanian in classical writings were synonymous with the term Trojan, the Dardans being Trojans, an ancient people of Troas in northwestern Anatolia. The Dardans derived their name from Dardanus, the mythical founder of Dardania (Asia minor), an ancient city in the Troad. Rule of the Troad was divided between Dardania and Troy.

The Royal House of Troy was also divided into two branches, that of Dardania, and that of Troy (or Ilium). The House of Dardania was older than the House of Troy, but Troy later became more powerful than Dardania. Aeneas, the legendary father of the Latin race, is referred to in Vergil's Aeneid interchangeably as a Dardan or a Trojan, but strictly speaking Aeneas was of the Dardanian branch. Many rulers of Rome claimed descent from Aeneas and the Houses of Troy and Dardania.

The strait of the Dardanelles was named after the Dardans, who lived in the region.

The ethnic affinities of the Dardans (and Trojans) and the nature of their language remain a mystery. The remains of their material culture reveal close ties with Thracians, other Anatolian groups, and Greek contact.

Archaeological finds from the Troad dating back to the Chalcolithic period show striking affinity to archaeological finds known from the same era in Muntenia and Moldavia, and there are other traces which suggest close ties between the Troad and the Carpatho-Balkan region of Europe. Archaeologists in fact have stated that the styles of certain ceramic objects and bone figurines show that these objects were brought into Troas by Carpatho-Danubian colonists; for example, certain ceramic objects have been shown to have Cucuteni origins.