Khen dynasty

Origin

According to Gosani Mangala (1823), the Khen rulers had a humble origin, implying that they were probably local chieftains who rose to power after the fall of the Palas. Ethnically, the Khen rulers belonged to a Tibeto-Burman ethnolinguistic group. The ethnicity of Khen is not known precisely but may have been associated with Khyen of the Indo-Burmese border or Kheng from the mountains.

Though there is no contemporary historical evidence, some data from eighteenth-century's Gosanimangal claim that a boy named Kanta Nath became the Khen ruler Niladwaj, who hailed from a poor family in Taluk Jambari on the bank of Singimari. Other sources claim Kanta Nath to be a migrant from Tripura. They worshipped Kamatashwari (also called Chandi or Bhavani), thus providing a break from the earlier dynasties that drew their lineage from Narakasura, the son of Vishnu.