Kingdom of Gampola

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Kingdom of Gampola ගම්පොළ
1341–1408
Flag
A Map of Gampola
Capital	Gampola
Common languages	Sinhala
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Government	Monarchy
King
• 1341–1353	Bhuvanaikabahu IV
• 1341–1353	Parakkamabahu V
• 1357–1374	Vikramabahu III
• 1372–1391	Bhuvanaikabahu V
• 1391-1397	Vira Bahu II
• 1397–1408	Vira Alakesvara
• 1408-1410	Parakrama Bahu Epa
Historical era	Transitional period
• Established	1341
• Disestablished	1408
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Dambadeniya Kingdom of Kotte

Part of a series on the
Historical states of Sri Lanka
Sinhala kingdom Kingdom of Tambapanni 543–437 BCE Anuradhapura kingdom 437 BCE–1017 CE Anuradhapura from Rohana 1017–1055 Kingdom of Polonnaruwa 1055–1232 Kingdom of Dambadeniya 1232–1341 Kingdom of Gampola 1341–1371 Kingdom of Kotte 1371–1597
Transitional period Jaffna kingdom 1232–1620 Kingdom of Sitawaka 1521–1594
Kandyan period Kingdom of Kandy 1469–1815 Portuguese Ceylon 1597–1658 Dutch Ceylon 1658–1796
British Ceylon period British Ceylon 1815–1948
Sri Lanka since 1948 Dominion of Ceylon 1948–1972 Republic of Sri Lanka 1972–present
Sri Lanka portal Capital History Timeline
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Gampola 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-fourteenth century. King Buwanekabahu IV (son of King Vijayabahu V) ascended the throne after his father and shifted the capital from Kurunegala to Gampola, with the support of General Senalankadhikara.

After his death, his brother, King Parakramabahu V (1353 AD - 1359 AD), who used to reign from Dedigama ascended the throne and moved to Gampola. He was dethroned by King Buwanekabahu IV's son, King Vikramabahu III (1359 AD - 1374 AD) and sent to Malaya.

King Vikramabahu III conveyed the tooth relic to Gampola and held a festival in honour of this sacred relic. He built a shrine at Niyamgampaya in Gampola. The rock temple "Gadaladeniya Viharaya" was constructed by king Vikramabahu III. Meanwhile, a general called "Alagakkonara" became more powerful than the king as they helped to defeat "Araya Chakravarthi", a Tamil ruler who had grabbed the throne of the northern country.

There are many Buddhist temples belonging to the Gampola era like "Lankathilaka" and "Ambekke dewalaya".

The last king of Gampola was King Buwanekabahu V. He ruled the island for 29 years. At the same time, King "Weerabahu II" (1392-1397 AD) ruled Raigama. King "Vijayabahu VI" (1397-1411 AD), who is from the Alagakkonara family, grabbed the throne from king Weerabahu II. The Chinese ambassador Zheng He, who was unhappy with the change of hands, carried off King Vijayabahu VI to China in 1411 AD. The next kingdom was the Kotte kingdom. A separate city was built in Kotte during this time by a noble known as Alagakkonara.

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