Sources in the Gaua Period in Bengal: Essays in Archaeology

In the late sixth century CE, akaraised as the king of gauaextended his power over Magadha and northern Bihar. Whatever the details of his reign, his kingdom is acknowledged by modernday historians as the prime political unity of Bengal, which included part of Eastern India. His reign was not long (C.590625?), but it was a period of relative peace and good administration and we know that his kingdom was visited by the Chinese monk xuanzang. The century following akas death stands as an obscure period of the bengalmagadha regionmatsyanyyamwith a succession of local conflicts and a multiplicity of independent sovereignities as well as a few invasions from outside. A noticeable event is yaovarmans conquest of kanauj, celebrated in the poem gaavaho, with two lines that possibly refer to the slaughter of the king of Magadha, vassal of gaua. The period of Darkness came to an end in C.750 with the rise of the Palas. Sources on the gaua period in Bengal: essays in archaeology deals with the history and archaeology of gaua, especially inscriptions, literary sources, scupltures, ceramics, and regional organizations of the period.