Kingdom of Kotte
Kingdom of Kotte කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1412–1597 | |||||||||||||
Flag of Kotte | |||||||||||||
Territorial evolution of the Kingdom of Kotte | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Kotte | ||||||||||||
| Official languages | Sinhalese, Tamil | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||
• 1412–1467 | Parakramabahu VI | ||||||||||||
• 1472–1480 | Bhuvanaikabahu VI | ||||||||||||
• 1484–1518 | Parakramabahu VIII | ||||||||||||
• 1551–1597 | Dharmapala | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Transitional period | ||||||||||||
| 1412 | |||||||||||||
• Disestablishment | 27 May 1597 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Historical states of Sri Lanka |
|---|
The Kingdom of Kotte (Sinhala: කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය, romanized: Kōṭṭē Rajadhaniya, Tamil: கோட்டை அரசு), named after its capital, Kotte, was a Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century.
Founded by Parakramabahu VI with the help of the Ming, the Kingdom managed to conquer the Jaffna kingdom and the Vanni principalities, and bring the country under one flag. It led to a punitive invasion against the Vijayanagar dynasty and captured a port.
The Kotte Kingdom was largely dissolved during the Sinhalese-Portuguese War, as it faced attacks from rival Sinhalese kingdoms, the Kingdom of Sitawaka and Kingdom of Kandy. Dom João Dharmapala handed it over to the Portuguese, thus leading to the formation of Portuguese Ceylon. Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan and his two son's also returned from Madurai with mercenaries and managed to conquer Jaffna. The remainder was annexed into Sitawaka and Kandy.