The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c16.s4.5

c16.s4.5

There are some indications to suggest that a Kumāragupta III may have flourished in Magadha towards the middle of the 6th century; Damodarpur copperplate of the year 224 G. E. (543 A. D.),¹ where the name of the issuer is imperfectly preserved, is presumed to have contained the name of Kumāragupta by some scholars and of Budhagupta and Viṣṇugupta by others.² If there was Kumāragupta III, who ruled during *c.* 540 to 550 A.D., it is not impossible that he might have issued the coins of class II. Coins of class II are however numerous and one may wonder whether Kumāragupta III ruling in *c.* 540 A.D. had leisure enough to issue such a copious currency, when his kingdom was threatened by Yaśodharman, the Maukharis and the Later Guptas. Further discoveries alone can settle this question.