In the late sixth century CE, sasanka—raised as the king of gauda—extended his power over Magadha and northern Bihar. Whatever the details of his reign, his kingdom is acknowledged by modern-day historians as the prime political unity of Bengal, which included part of Eastern India. His reign was not long (C.590–625?), 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 sasanka’s death stands as an obscure period of the bengal-magadha region—matsyanyayam—with a succession of local conflicts and a multiplicity of independent sovereignities as well as a few invasions from outside. A noticeable event is yasovarman’s conquest of kanauj, celebrated in the poem ‘gaudavaho’, with two lines that possibly refer to the ‘slaughter’ of the king of Magadha, vassal of gauda. The period of Darkness came to an end in C.750 with the rise of the Palas. Sources on the gauda period in Bengal: essays in archaeology deals with the history and archaeology of gauda, especially inscriptions, literary sources, scupltures, ceramics, and regional organizations of the period.