Khon

The Khön were a Tibetan noble clan seated at Sakya in Tsang, whose members supplied the hereditary head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. Clansmen held office under the Tibetan Empire, and in 1073 Khön Könchok Gyalpo founded Sakya Monastery.

Under the Mongol Yuan dynasty the clan governed Tibet: Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, tutor of Kublai Khan, was named imperial preceptor, and his kinsmen kept the office, ruling through Sakya-appointed administrators. Zangpo Pal, the last strong head, died in 1323; his sons split the inheritance in 1323 and 1324 into four branches, weakening Sakya.

In 1354 Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen of Phagmodrupa overthrew the Sakya administration and ended the clan's political power. The Khön retained their monastic leadership and later gave rise to the Ngor and Tshar sub-schools.