Capital of Sri Lanka

The current capital of Sri Lanka is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. In the course of history, the national capital has been in many locations other than Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.

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List of capitals[]

Mythological[]

• , Unknown. Capital of Abhaya, King of Sri Lanka (then known as Ojadīpa) in the time of Kakusandha Buddha.^[1]
• , Until 543 BC^[2]

Historical[]

Pre Anuradhapura period (543–377 BC)

• Tambapaṇṇī, 543 BC–505 BC^[3][4]
• Upatissagāma, 505 BC–504 BC^[5]
• Vijithapura, 504–474 BC^[6]
• Upatissagāma, 474 BC–438 BC^[5]
• Anurādhapura, 438 BC–437 BC^[7]

Anuradhapura period (437 BC–1017)

• Anurādhapura, 437 BC–7th century AD^[7][8]
  • Sigiriya,^{[note 1]} 473–491 (During the reign of Kassapa I (473–491))^[9][10]
• Anurādhapura, 7th century–667
• Polonnaruwa,^{[note 2]} 667‑683 (During the reign of Aggabodhi IV (667‑683))^[11][8][12]
• Anurādhapura, 683–772
• Polonnaruwa, 772‑777 (During the reign of Aggabodhi VII (772‑777))^[11][12]
• Anurādhapura, 777–797
• Polonnaruwa, 797‑801 (During the reign of Udaya I (797‑801))^[11][12]
• Anurādhapura, 801–833
• Polonnaruwa, 833‑853 (During the reign of Sena I (833‑853))^[11][12]
• Anurādhapura, 853–1029^[13]

Polonnaruwa period (1017–1232)

• Chola conquest of Anuradhapura
  • Polonnaruwa (Chola), 1029–1055^[14][13]
  • Rohana (Sinhalese), 1029–1055^[13]

• Polonnaruwa period
  • Polonnaruwa, 1055– 1232^[15][16][13]

Transitional period (1232–1597)

• Polonnaruwa, 1232–1255^[15][16][13]
• Dambadeniya, 1255–1270s (During the reigns of Vijayabahu III (1232–1236), Parakramabahu II (1236–1270), Vijayabahu IV (1270–1272) & part of Bhuvanaikabahu I (1272–1284))^[17]
• Yapahuwa, 1270s–1284 (Part of the reign of Bhuvanaikabahu I (1272–1284))^[18][17][19]
• Polonnaruwa, 1287–1293 (During the reign of Parakramabahu III (1287–1293))^[20][19]
• Kurunegala, 13th century–14th century (During the reigns of Bhuvanaikabahu II (1293–1302) & Parakramabahu IV (1302–1326))^[18][17][19]
• Gampola,^{[note 3]} 1341–1356 (During the reign of Bhuvanaikabahu IV (1341–1351) & part of the reign of Parakramabahu V (1344–1359))^[21][22][23]
• Dedigama, 1356–1359 (During the co-reigns of Parakramabahu V & Vikramabahu III (1356–1359))^[23]
• Gampola, 1359–1374 (Part of the reign of Vikramabahu III (1356–1374) & part of the reign of Bhuvanaikabahu V (1371–1408))^[23]
• Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, 1371–1597 (During the reign of Bhuvanaikabahu V (1371–1408)), capital of the Kingdom of Kotte)^{[24][17][25][26][27]}
  • , 1411–1414 (During the early part of the reign of Parakramabahu VI (1411–1466))^[28]

Kandyan period (1597–1815)

• Kandy, 1597–1815

British Ceylon period (1815–1948)

• Colombo, 1815–1948

Modern Sri Lanka (1948–present)

• Colombo, 1948–1982^[29]
• Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, 1982–present

Others[]

Transitional period (1232–1597)

When the island was divided during the Transitional period, multiple capital cities existed at one time.

• Nallur, 1255–1620 (capital of the Jaffna Kingdom)^[18][19]
• Kandy, 1469–1597 (During the early part of the reign of Senasammata Vikramabahu (1469–1511), capital of the Kingdom of Kandy)^[30]
• Sitawaka, 1521–1594 (capital of the Kingdom of Sitawaka)

See also[]

• List of national capitals by population
• List of capitals in Sri Lanka

Notes[]

References[]

Citations[]

Bibliography[]