{{Short description|Gupta emperor from 530 to 540}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox royalty | succession = [[List of Gupta emperors|Gupta emperor]] | image=Seal of Kumaragupta III.jpg | caption =Bhitari copper-silver seal of Kumaragupta III. | reign = {{circa|530|540}} | religion = [[Hinduism]] | coronation = | full name = | predecessor = [[Narasimhagupta]] | successor = [[Vishnugupta (Gupta Empire)|Vishnugupta]] | spouse = | dynasty = [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] | father = [[Narasimhagupta]] | mother = Shrimitradeva | issue = Vishnugupta | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = 540 | death_place = | date of burial = | place of burial = }} {{Gupta Empire}} '''Kumaragupta III''' ([[Gupta script]]: <sub>[[File:Gupta allahabad ku.jpg|14px]]</sub>[[File:Gupta allahabad m.svg|12px]][[File:Gupta allahabad r.svg|12px]][[File:Gupta allahabad gu.jpg|12px]]<sub>[[File:Gupta allahabad pt.jpg|12px]]</sub>, ''Ku-ma-ra-gu-pta'') was a later [[Gupta Empire|Gupta Emperor]], ruling from 530 to 540. He succeeded his father [[Narasimhagupta Baladitya|Narasimhagupta]] in about 530.
His silver-copper seal was discovered in [[Bhitari]] ([[Ghazipur district]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]) in 1889, which mentions the names of his father Narasimhagupta and grandfather [[Purugupta]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Kumaragupta-III-of-the-Gupta-Empire/6000000033941223932|title=Kumaragupta-III-of-the-Gupta-Empire}}</ref><ref>Bhitari Inscribed Copper-Silver Seal of Kumaragupta III - Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. LVIII, p. 89</ref> The seal of Kumaragupta III allowed for the clarification of the genealogy of later Gupta kings: it gave the names of three Gupta king who had been hitherto unknown: [[Purugupta]], [[Narasimhagupta]] and [[Kumaragupta II]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Willis |first1=Michael |title=Later Gupta History: Inscriptions, Coins and Historical Ideology |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=2005 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=131–150 |jstor=25188529 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25188529 |issn=1356-1863}}</ref>
A clay sealing of him was discovered from [[Nalanda]], which also mentioned about his father and grandfather. Nalanda clay seal of Kumaragupta III mentions Purugupta as [[Kumaragupta I|Kumaragupta I's]] son from his queen Anantadevi.
The [[Gupta Empire]] declined during his rule and the later kings. He had to face [[Yashodharman]], the [[Second Aulikara dynasty|Aulikara]] ruler of Malwa who had defeated the [[Alchon Huns|Huna king]] [[Mihirakula]] at [[Battle of Sondani|Sondani]] and was conquering Northern India. J.L. Jain is of the view that Kumaragupta III was killed during this conflict, around 530 and Kumaragupta III's father [[Narasimhagupta]] committed suicide on hearing the news.<ref name="malwa">{{cite book |last1=Jain |first1=Kailash Chand |title=Malwa Through The Ages |date=31 December 1972 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0824-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3O7q7cU7k0C&dq=Aulikara+Empire&pg=PA250 |language=en}}</ref> He was succeeded by his son [[Vishnugupta (Gupta Empire)|Vishnugupta]].
<gallery> File:Nalanda clay seal of Vishnugupta.jpg|The [[Nalanda]] clay seal of [[Vishnugupta (Gupta Empire)|Vishnugupta]] states that Vishnugupta was son of Kumaragupta III, and grandson of [[Purugupta]].<ref>Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.3 (inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108395 p.364]</ref> Nalanda clay seal of Kumaragupta III.jpg|Nalanda clay seals of Kumaragupta III.<ref>Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.3 (inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108395 p.355]</ref> </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *http://www.gloriousindia.com/profiles/Kumaragupta_III
{{s-start}} {{s-reg}} {{s-bef|before=[[Narasimhagupta]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Gupta Empire|Gupta Emperor]]|years=530 – 540}} {{s-aft|after=[[Vishnugupta (Gupta Empire)|Vishnugupta]]}} {{end}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]] [[Category:540s deaths]] [[Category:Gupta emperors]] [[Category:6th-century Hindus]] [[Category:6th-century Indian monarchs]]
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