Khana (poet)

Khana, also known as Dak or Lilavati, was an Indian poet and legendary astrologer, who composed in the medieval Bengali language between the ninth and 12th centuries AD.

[1] The short couplets or quatrains reflect a robust common sense, as in this paean to industry: The legend of Khana (also named Lilavati elsewhere) centers around her association with Pragjyotishpur (the Bengal/Assam border), or possibly Chandraketugarh in southern Bengal (where a mound has been discovered amongst ruins with the names of Khana and Mihir associated with it) and that she was the daughter-in-law of the famous astronomer and mathematician, Varahamihira, a jewel among Chandragupta II Vikramaditya's famed Navaratna sabha.

However, she exceeded him in the accuracy of her predictions, and at some point, either her husband (or father-in-law) or a hired hand (or possibly Khana herself under great duress) cut off her tongue to silence her prodigious talent.

And this branch of knowledge was beautifully nurtured, with all its flowers, leaves and twigs, by Kshana, a beloved daughter of Ráŕh, the offspring of the Ráŕhii Vaidyas caste of Bankura /Senbhum."

[3][4][5][6][7] On 15 June 2009, Indian-Bengali television channel Zee Bangla started to telecast a TV serial called Khona based on the life of Khana.