Alagakkonara is mentioned by Ibn Batuta as ruling in Kurunegala, but other sources indicate that he was the Bandara (Guardian) of Raigama Korale (county) in the modern Kalutara District.

Arya Chakravarthy's army was held by Alagakkonara in front of Kotte, while he defeated the enemy's invasion fleet at Panadura to the south-west.

[4] In 1391, following the conquest of the Kingdom of Jaffna by Prince Sapumal (Sembahap Perumal), Kotte was given the epithet 'Sri Jayawardenepura' ('resplendent city of growing victory').

From the ramparts to the magnificent three storied buildings that housed the kings palace, laterite and clay were the main raw material used in its construction.

Failing to withstand repeated assaults by the forces of the neighbouring kingdom of Sitawaka, the city was abandoned by the Portuguese, who made Colombo their new capital.

The archaeological remains were torn up and used as building materials (a process that continues)—some of it even ending up in the Victoria Bridge, across the Kelani River.

The buildings were built on reclaimed land, after a massive lake was formed by dredging the marshlands around the Diyawanna Oya.

In 2005, a Passenger boat service was being finalised and would commence adjacent to Parliament Junction at Bataramulla and end at the Wellawatte canal near Marine drive.

It would have stations at the Kotte Marsh, Nawala, Open University, Apollo Hospital, Duplication road, Wellawatte and at St Peter's College, Colombo.

The oldest English school on the island is Sri Jayawardenepura Maha Vidyalaya, formerly known as Christian College, located in Pita Kotte.

A considerable number of the students living within the zone study at government owned colleges and International schools in Colombo.

Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte features a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen: Af) more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds.

In 2007 the Municipality, with aid from the Ministry of Urban Development, completed the first stage of the new Chandra Silva Stadium on the site of a rubbish dump behind the HSBC building.

The football association's new training facility at Kotte is aimed at harnessing and developing the available talent and organizing the individual players into a cohesive team.