Jaintiapur

Jaintiapur lay at the foot of the Jaintia Hills, north of Sylhet, where hill country met the low-lying plains and seasonal lakes called haors. It served as the seat of an independent kingdom whose connections crossed this varied landscape. A dynastic tradition explains the transfer to Khasi rule around 1500 through the marriage of Jayanti, daughter of the ruler Jayanta Ray, to Landowar, a Khasi chief's son.

The royal centre acquired a substantial palace under Laxmi Sinha, whose reign lasted from 1670 to 1701. The building is dated to 1680. Jainteshvari temple stood within the same landscape of royal and religious monuments. Groups of standing stones and supported stone slabs also formed part of its commemorative traditions. The kingdom remained independent under its Khasi rulers until British occupation in 1835, bringing the old political order to an end shortly before the middle of the nineteenth century.