Котте
The arrival of the Portuguese in 1505 and their interest in the island altered the political landscape of the Sri Lankan state: the island had been ruled by seven native kingdoms in succession (at times several concurrently), with the Kingdom of Kotte first coming under Portuguese occupation. The Dutch ended Portuguese influence, and continued colonial occupation on the island from 1640 until 1796, when the British in turn replaced them. Unlike the Portuguese and Dutch, the British were eventually able to occupy the entirety of the island as a Crown colony, creating British Ceylon in 1815.