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The Sinhala kingdom or Sinhalese kingdom refers to the successive Sinhalese kingdoms that existed in what is today
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. The Sinhalese kingdoms are kingdoms known by the city at which its administrative centre was located. These are in chronological order: the kingdoms of Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara,
Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...
,
Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, (; ) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in History of Sri Lanka, ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, ...
,
Dambadeniya Dambadeniya ''(DMBD)'' is a ruined ancient city situated in the North Western Province (Wayamba), Sri Lanka on the Kurunegala–Negombo main road. It served as the capital of Sri Lanka in the mid 13th century. Much of Dambadeniya still lies buried ...
,
Gampola Gampola (, ) is a town located in Kandy District, in Sri Lanka's Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province. The town is governed by an Urban Council. Gampola was made the capital of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four year ...
,
Kotte Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (), also known as Jayapura or Kotte, is Capital of Sri Lanka, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judi ...
,
Sitawaka Avissawella (, ) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, approximately 40 km air distance and 48.1 km road distance from ...
and
Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...
.


History

The Sinhala kingdom ceased to exist by 1815, following the British takeover. While the Sinhala kingdom is claimed to have existed from 543 BCE to 1815 CE, other political entities claimed to have co-existed in Sri Lanka spanning certain partial periods, including the
Jaffna kingdom The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally t ...
(which existed 1215–1624 CE),
Vanni chieftaincies The Vanni chieftaincies or Vanni tribes was a region between Anuradhapura and Jaffna, but also extending to along the eastern coast to Panama and Yala, during the Transitional and Kandyan periods of Sri Lanka. The heavily forested land was a co ...
(which existed from the 12th century to 1803 CE) and the Portuguese and Dutch colonies (which existed 1597–1658 CE and 1640–1796 respectively). During these partial periods of time, these political entities were not part of the Sinhala kingdom, except
Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...
and the
Vanni chieftaincies The Vanni chieftaincies or Vanni tribes was a region between Anuradhapura and Jaffna, but also extending to along the eastern coast to Panama and Yala, during the Transitional and Kandyan periods of Sri Lanka. The heavily forested land was a co ...
following the invasion by Parakramabahu VI, until his death. Records by
Faxian Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...
thero and the Mahavamsa suggests it may have extended to
Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...
and parts of India as well.


Epochs according to the Mahavamsa chronology

*
Kingdom of Tambapanni The Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī () was the first Sinhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka. Its administrative centre was based at Tambapaṇṇī. It existed between 543 BC and 437 BC. According to the Mahavamsa, the Kingdom was founded by Prince Vijay ...
(543 BC–505 BC) *
Kingdom of Upatissa Nuwara Kingdom commonly refers to: * A Monarchy, monarchic state or realm ruled by a king or queen. ** A monarchic chiefdom, represented or governed by a king or queen. * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Ar ...
(505–377 BC) * Kingdom of Anuradhapura (377 BC – 1017 AD) *
Kingdom of Polonnaruwa The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa () was the Sinhalese monarchy, Sinhalese kingdom that expanded across the island of Sri Lanka from 1070 until 1232. The kingdom started expanding its overseas influence during the reign of Parakramabahu the Great. I ...
(1056–1236) *
Kingdom of Dambadeniya The Kingdom of Dambadeniya was a medieval kingdom in what is present-day Sri Lanka. The kingdom's rulers reigned from 1220–1345. States and territories disestablished in 1345 History Founding The first king to choose Dambadeniya as his ca ...
(1236–1272) * Kingdom of Yapahuwa (1272–1284) * Kingdom of Kurunegala (1293–1341) *
Kingdom of Gampola Gampola (Ganga Sri Pura / Gangasiripura) is a town and once an ancient polity located near Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was made the capital city of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four years in the mid-fou ...
(1341–1411) *
Kingdom of Kotte The Kingdom of Kotte (, ), named after its capital, Kotte, was a Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century. Founded by Parakramabahu VI with the help of the Ming, the Kingdom managed to conquer the Jaffna ki ...
(1412–1598) *
Kingdom of Sitawaka The kingdom of Sitawaka (, ) was a kingdom located in south-central Sri Lanka. It emerged from the division of the kingdom of Kotte following the Wijayaba Kollaya, Spoiling of Vijayabahu in 1521. Over the course of the next seventy years it cam ...
(1521–1593) *
Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...
(1590–1815)


Notes


References

{{Epochs of Sri Lanka Monarchs * Names of Sri Lanka Former monarchies of South Asia