Transitional period of Sri Lanka

After the demise of his elder brother Vijayabâhu, king Bhuvanaikabâhu I, as the next in line to the throne, shifted the capital to Yapahuwa for reasons of security.

For a brief period, in the early and middle 14th century, it was an ascendant power in the island of Sri Lanka when all regional kingdoms accepted subordination.

During this period, important local Tamil literature was produced and Hindu temples were built, including an academy for language advancement.

Chinese admiral Zheng He and his naval expeditionary force landed at Galle, Sri Lanka in 1409 and got into battle with the local king Vira Alakesvara of Gampola.

The Kotte kings regarded themselves as Chakravartis (Emperors), laying claim to the whole island, after Parakramabahu VI, but actual power was limited to within their own boundaries.

[10] The building of a fort, near Colombo, had to be given up due popular hostility that was fanned by Moorish traders, who had established themselves on the island and controlled a large portion of its external trade.

[10] The Portuguese at no stage established dominance over the politics of South Asia, but sought to do so over its commerce by means of subjugation through naval power.

Using their superior technology and sea power at points of weakness or divisions, the Portuguese would attain influence in greater proportions to their actual strength.

This practice was possibly tolerated to humour princes who had some claim to the throne by giving them positions of responsibility, and the belief that having loyal relatives in outlying districts afforded some security to the king.

However this political structure inevitably led to its own weakening in the long run, as those princes, who could, virtually administered the areas they claimed as autonomous principalities.

[12] The Kandyan ruler took advantage of the situation in a cynical and shrewd move to aggravate the political instability as an opportunity to assert their independence from the control of Kotte.