| Kingdom of Kotte Lanka |
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| Capital | Kotte | |||
| Language(s) | Sinhala | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| Kingdom of Kotte | ||||
| - 1412-1467 | Parâkramabâhu VI (First) | |||
| - 1508-1528 | Dharma Parakramabãhu IX (of Kelaniya) | |||
| - 1551-1597 | Dharmapala (Last) | |||
| History | ||||
| - Unification of all Sri Lanka | 1412 | |||
| - Disestablished | 1597 | |||
The Kingdom of Kotte (Sinhalese: කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය), centred on Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte (located just outside present-day Colombo) was a kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century. Its king was the last native sovereign to unify all of Sri Lanka under one rule.
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The term Kotte means fortress in Sinhalese. So it is accepted that name refers to the fortress founded by Alakesvara.
Originally founded as a fortress by Minister Alakesvara (1370–1385) of the Gampola Kingdom during the reign of King Vikramabahu III to checkmate northern invasions on the western coast, Parakramabahu VI later made it the capital city in 1412.It was well protected by the large swamp surrounded the area.[1]
Parâkramabâhu VI first became the king of Raigama in 1412 then, in 1415 he made Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte his capital. King upgraded the existing citadel and built a new royal palace. Parâkramabâhu VI waited until ties between Vijayanagar Empire and Jaffna Kingdom become severe. First he captured the vanni and made vanni leaders loyal to him. Prince Sapumal was the commander of the Kotte army at the time.
In 1450, Parâkramabâhu VI had, with his conquest of the Jaffna Kingdom in northern Sri Lanka, unified all of Sri Lanka. At it height the Kingdom oversaw one of greatest eras of the Sinhalese literature. Notable poets at the time were Buddhist monks such as ven Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula thero, ven Weedagama Maihree thero, Karagala Wanarathana thero. By 1477, however, 10 years after the death of Parakramabahu VI, regional kingdoms became more powerful.Most notably a new Kingdom was founded in central hill-country of the island by Senasammatha Wickremabahu who Successfully led a rebellion against Kotte kingdom in 1469.
Dharma Parakramabãhu IX moved the capital to Kelaniya in 1509 and it stayed there until 1528.
Troubled times started for Kotte Kingdom after the Portuguese landed in Colombo on 1505. They were able to secure a trade agreement with the King of Kotte on their first visit itself. Kotte Kingdom's downfall was made fast after the event in 1521 known as the "Wijayaba Kollaya" where the kings (Vijayabahu VII) three sons killed their father and divided Kotte into three kingdoms. The divided Kingdom of Sitawaka became more powerful with local popular support and Kotte Kingdom had to rely on Portuguese for help. By 1565 capital of Kotte was abandoned by the Kotte King Dharmapala due to frequent attacks from Sitawaka led by Mayadunne and his son Rajasinghe I and he was taken into Colombo under Portuguese protection. Most of the areas of Kotte Kingdom was annexed to the Kingdom of Sitawaka and after the downfall of Sitawaka in 1594 these areas were occupied by the Portuguese. In 1597 Dharmapala gifted the Kotte Kingdom to the Portuguese throne and Kotte era was officially ended.
Military of the Kotte kingdom was closely associated with its both rise and the demise. Poems written in this era gives vivid account of contemporary military. Before the arrival of the Portuguese there are no signs of using fire arms in kingdom.Military consisted of for main departments namely
In the final periods of the kingdom Portuguese were often in charge of the military.
The kingdom is situated near Colombo, a very important port at the time. Moorish merchants from India and Arabiya dominated the trade of the kingdom until the arrival of the Portuguese. Spice trade such as cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper dominated the exports while gemstones also was a big export. After the conquest of jaffna, Kotte possessed the pearl trading which gave an enermouse wealth to the kingdom. Portuguese who arrived in there as traders were able to secure a trading deal with the kingdom on their first visit.
One of the greatest of fields that flourished under his rule was literature and art, since the king himself was very fond of them.Royal patranage was given to literature paving way to a golden age of literature in the island.
These institutions paved way not only to enhansement of Buddhist literature but also to development of Ayurvedic medicine.
Buddhism was the reigion of majority and given the Royal Patronage.A Temple of Tooth relic was built near the royal palace. The ancient Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara was repaired by the king Parâkramabâhu VI Hinduism was also given a foremost place in the society. Portuguese conveted much of the population into Roman Catholic by force.The last king of Kotte Don Juan Dharmapala was the only catholic Sinhalese king in the entire Sri Lankan history.
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