Kumaragupta III

Kumaragupta III
Bhitari copper-silver seal of Kumaragupta III.
Gupta emperor
Reignc. 530 – c. 540 CE
PredecessorNarasimhagupta
SuccessorVishnugupta
DynastyGupta
FatherNarasimhagupta
MotherShrimitradeva
ReligionHinduism
Gupta Empire
320 CE–550 CE
Chandragupta II horse typeHead of a Buddha statue, India, Mathura, Gupta period, 4th-5th century CE
Gupta (c. late 3rd century)
Ghatotkacha (c. late 3rd century - 319)
Chandragupta I (c. 319 – 335/350)
Kacha (early 4th century?)
Samudragupta (c. 335/350 – 375)
(Ramagupta) (late 4th century?)
Chandragupta II (380 – 413/415)
Kumaragupta I (415 – 455)
Skandagupta (455 - 467)
Purugupta (467 – 473)
Kumaragupta II (473 - 476)
Budhagupta (476 – 495)
Narasimhagupta (495 – ?)
(Bhanugupta) (c. 510)
Vainyagupta (c. 507)
Kumaragupta III (c. 530)
Vishnugupta (540 – 550)

Kumaragupta III (Gupta script: Ku-ma-ra-gu-pta) was a later Gupta Emperor. He succeeded his father Narasimhagupta in about 530 CE.

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.[1][2] 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.[3]

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's son from his queen Anantadevi.

The Gupta Empire declined during his rule and the later kings. He had to face Yashodharman, the Aulikara ruler of Malwa who had defeated the Huna king Mihirakula at Sondani and was conquering Northern India. J.L. Jain is of the view that Kumaragupta III was killed during this conflict, around 530 AD and Kumaragupta III's father Narasimhagupta committed suicide on hearing the news.[4] He was succeeded by his son Vishnugupta.

  1. ^ "Kumaragupta-III-of-the-Gupta-Empire".
  2. ^ Bhitari Inscribed Copper-Silver Seal of Kumaragupta III - Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. LVIII, p. 89
  3. ^ Willis, Michael (2005). "Later Gupta History: Inscriptions, Coins and Historical Ideology". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 15 (2): 131–150. ISSN 1356-1863. JSTOR 25188529.
  4. ^ Jain, Kailash Chand (31 December 1972). Malwa Through The Ages. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-0824-9.
  5. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.3 (inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings) p.364
  6. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.3 (inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings) p.355