Kumaragupta III

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox royalty

| succession = Gupta emperor

| image=Seal of Kumaragupta III.jpg

| caption =Bhitari copper-silver seal of Kumaragupta III.

| reign = {{circa|530|540 CE}}

| religion =Hinduism

| coronation =

| full name =

| predecessor = Narasimhagupta

| successor = Vishnugupta

| spouse =

| issue =

| dynasty = Gupta

| father = Narasimhagupta

| mother = Shrimitradeva

|birth_date =

|birth_place =

|death_date =

|death_place =

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}}

{{Gupta Empire}}

Kumaragupta III (Gupta script: _14px12px12px12px_12px 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Kumaragupta-III-of-the-Gupta-Empire/6000000033941223932|title=Kumaragupta-III-of-the-Gupta-Empire}}Bhitari Inscribed Copper-Silver Seal of Kumaragupta III - Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. LVIII, p. 89 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.{{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}}

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.{{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}} He was succeeded by his son Vishnugupta.

File:Nalanda clay seal of Vishnugupta.jpg|The Nalanda clay seal of Vishnugupta states that Vishnugupta was son of Kumaragupta III, and grandson of Purugupta.Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.3 (inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108395 p.364]

Nalanda clay seal of Kumaragupta III.jpg|Nalanda clay seals of Kumaragupta III.Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.3 (inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108395 p.355]