Kotte

Kotte lies among marshes and lakes inland from Colombo, a naturally protected site that the minister Alakeshvara chose for a fortress in the late fourteenth century to guard the western coast against attack from South India. In 1412 Parakramabahu VI made it his capital, strengthened the citadel and built a royal palace. His court was a great age of Sinhala letters, producing the messenger poems known as sandesas and works by monks such as Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula.

Parakramabahu VI first conquered the Vanni, and in 1450 his general Prince Sapumal took Jaffna, bringing the whole island under one crown for the last time. The unity did not outlive him, and the hill country broke away in 1469 under Senasammata Vikramabahu. The Portuguese reached Colombo in 1505 and were led to Kotte by a deliberately winding route meant to hide how close the capital lay to the sea. In 1521 the sons of Vijayabahu VII killed their father in the Vijayaba Kollaya and divided the kingdom among Kotte, Sitawaka and Raigama. Bhuvanekabahu VII sent a golden effigy of his grandson Dharmapala to Lisbon for crowning, and Dharmapala later became a Christian. Rajasinha I of Sitawaka pressed Kotte hard, and in 1565 Dharmapala abandoned the capital for Colombo under Portuguese protection. When he died in 1597 he had willed the remaining kingdom to the Portuguese crown.