Kotte, Sinhalese Kingdom of

Foreign rulers take advantage of the disturbed political state of the Sinhalese kingdom, and in the thirteenth century Chandrabhanu, a Buddhist king from Malaya, had invaded the island twice.

He attempted to seize the two most sacred relics of the Buddha in Sinhalese custody, the Tooth Relic and the Alms Bowl.

In the early fifteenth century, the Ming dynasty Chinese intercedes on behalf of King Parakramabahu VI (1412-67), an enlightened monarch who repulses an invasion from the polity of Vijayanagara in southern India, reunites Sri Lanka, and earns renown as a patron of Buddhism and the arts.

Parakramabahu VI is the last Sinhalese king to rule the entire island.

The Portuguese soon decide that the island, which they call Cilao, conveys a strategic advantage that is necessary for protecting their coastal establishments in India and increasing Lisbon's potential for dominating Indian Ocean trade.

These incentives prove irresistible, and, the Portuguese, with only a limited number of personnel, seek to extend their power over the island.

They have not long to wait.

Palace intrigue, then revolution in Kotte threatens the survival of the kingdom.

The Portuguese skillfully exploit these developments.

In 1521 Bhuvanekabahu, the ruler of Kotte, requests Portuguese aid against his brother, Mayadunne, the more able rival king who has established his independence from the Portuguese at Sitawake, a domain in the Kotte kingdom.

Powerless on his own, King Bhuvanekabahu becomes a puppet of the Portuguese, but shortly before his death in 1551, the king will successfully obtain Portuguese recognition of his grandson, Dharmapala, as his successor.

Muslim trading communities in South Asia, following the decline of the Chola as a maritime power in the twelfth century, had claimed a major share of commerce in the Indian Ocean and developed extensive east-west, as well as Indo-Sri Lankan, commercial trade routes.

As the Portuguese expand into the region, this flourishing Muslim trade becomes an irresistible target for European interlopers.

The sixteenth-century Roman Catholic Church is intolerant of Islam and encourages the Portuguese to take over the profitable shipping trade monopolized by the Moors.

In addition, the Portuguese will later have another strong motive for hostility toward the Moors because the latter play an important role in the Kandyan economy, one that enables the kingdom successfully to resist the Portuguese.

Don Lourenço de Almeida, son of the Portuguese viceroy in India, is sailing off the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka in 1505 looking for Moorish ships to attack when stormy weather forces his fleet to dock at Galle.

Word of these strangers who "eat hunks of white stone and drink blood (presumably wine)...and have guns with a noise louder than thunder ..." spreads quickly and reach King Parakramabahu VIII of Kotte (1484-1508), who offers gifts of cinnamon and elephants to the Portuguese to take back to their home port at Cochin on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India.

The king also gives the Portuguese permission to build a residence in Colombo for trade purposes.

Within a short time, however, Portuguese militaristic and monopolistic intentions become apparent.

Their heavily fortified "trading post" at Colombo and open hostility toward the island's Muslim traders arouses Sinhalese suspicions.

There are three native centers of political power at the onset of the European period in Sri Lanka in the sixteenth century: the two Sinhalese kingdoms of Kotte and Kandy and the Tamil kingdom at Jaffna.

Kotte is the principal seat of Sinhalese power, and it claims a largely imaginary overlordship not only over Kandy but also over the entire island.

None of the three kingdoms, however, has the strength to assert itself over the other two and reunify the island.

Portugal, which had already established its dominance as a maritime power in the Atlantic, is exploring new waters by the late fifteenth century.

In 1497 Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope and discovers an ocean route connecting Europe with India, thus inaugurating a new era of maritime supremacy for Portugal.

The Portuguese are consumed by two objectives in their empire-building efforts: to convert followers of non-Christian religions to Roman Catholicism and to capture the major share of the spice trade for the European market.

To carry out their goals, the Portuguese do not seek territorial conquest, which would be difficult given their small numbers.

Instead, they try to dominate strategic points through which trade passes.

By virtue of their supremacy on the seas, their knowledge of firearms, and by what has been called their "desperate soldiering" on land, the Portuguese gain an influence in South Asia that is far out of proportion to their numerical strength.

Sinhalese culture experiences fundamental change during this extended period of domestic instability and frequent foreign invasion.

Rice cultivation continues as the mainstay of agriculture but is no longer dependent on an elaborate irrigation network.

In the wet zone, large-scale administrative cooperation is not as necessary as it had been before.

Foreign trade is of increasing importance to the Sinhalese kings.

In particular, cinnamon—in great demand by Europeans—becomes a prime export commodity.

Because of the value of cinnamon, the city of Kotte on the west coast (near modern Colombo) becomes the nominal capital of the Sinhalese kingdom in the mid-fifteenth century.

Still, the Sinhalese kingdom remains divided into numerous competing petty principalities.

The Jaffna kingdom, after gaining independence from the South Indian Pandya Empire, had been an expanding power in the thirteenth and fourteenth century with all regional kingdoms paying tribute to it.

However, it now meets with simultaneous confrontations with the Vijayanagar empire that rules from Vijayanagara, southern India, and a rebounding Kotte Kingdom from the southern Sri Lanka.

A conflict between the expeditionary forces of the Chinese Ming empire and the Sinhalese Kotte kingdom, located in the southern territories of present-day Sri Lanka, results in the overthrow of the Sinhalese ruling house.

Ceylon’s emergent Kotte kingdom has been waging a war against the Jaffna kingdom.

Alakeshvara, the King of Kotte, has gained military prestige in the war, eventually coming to power and ruling Kotte under a puppet king from the previous royal dynasty.

However, he had eventually usurped the royal throne of the kingdom.

During the so-called treasure voyages launched by the Yongle Emperor of China’s Ming Dynasty, Admiral Zheng He and his fleet arrive in local waters nearby to establish Chinese control and stability along the maritime routes in the waters of Ceylon and southern India.

However, Alakeshvara poses a threat to the region by committing piracy and hostilities around the local waters.

Alakeshvara had been hostile to the Chinese presence of the fleet on arrival to Ceylon during the first treasure voyage.

Admiral Zheng He had decided to leave Ceylon for the time being and traveled further to other destinations.

During the third treasure voyage, the treasure fleet returns to the Kotte kingdom.

However, this time they have come to dispose Alakeshvara by military force.

Dreyer (2007) states that the confrontation in Ceylon against Alakeshvara most-likely happened during the outward journey in 1410 rather than the homeward journey in 1411.

However, he also notes that most authorities think that the confrontation happened during the homeward journey in 1411.

(Dreyer, Edward L. (2007).

Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433.

New York: Pearson Longman.)

When the Chinese return to Ceylon, they are overbearing and contemptuous, considering the Sinhalese people rude, disrespectful, and hostile.

They also resented that the Sinhalese are committing hostilities towards neighboring countries who have diplomatic relations with Ming China.

Admiral Zheng He and a few of his troops are traveling overland into Kotte, because Alakeshvara has lured them into his territory.

Alakeshvara cuts off Admiral Zheng He and his two thousand accompanying troops from the treasure fleet anchored at Colombo.

He also plans to launch a surprise attack on the treasure fleet.

In response, Admiral Zheng He and his troops invade Kotte, thus conquering its capital, and taking Alakeshvara, his family, the rest of the leadership, and dependents captive.

The Sinhalese army hastily return and surround the capital, but they are repeatedly defeated in battle against the invading Chinese troops.

Eventually, the Yongle Emperor decides to free Alakeshvara and return him.

He also requests the Ministry of Rites to recommend someone to serve as the new king.

However, the previous legitimate dynasty has already reestablished themselves in Kotte by the time the Chinese embassy arrives.

From this point forward, the treasure fleet will encounter no hostilities and will make port on Ceylon during all subsequent treasure voyages.