Names of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා, romanized: Śrī Lankā; Tamil: சிறி லங்கா / இலங்கை, romanized: Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean which has been known under various names over time.

At the outset of the 6th Century BC, Sri Lanka was known as Silam,[1][2] from the Pali Sihalam[2] (or Simhalam,[3] Sihalan,[4] Sihala[5]). It became Saylan mentioned from the 9th century.[6] It was transcribed as Ceilão by the Portuguese in 1505, later in English as Ceylon. Ceylon was used until it was replaced by Sri Lanka in 1972; the honorific Sri has been added to Lanka, a place mentioned in ancient texts and assumed to refer the country between the 10th[7] and the 12th centuries CE.[3]

Other ancient names used to refer to Sri Lanka included Serendip in Persian, Turkic (Serendib/Särändib) and Eelam in Tamil. In the 19th century, it was said that the oldest recorded name of Sri Lanka was Tamraparni.[8] (= Taprobane).

  1. ^ Cosmas (Indicopleustes), The Christian Topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian Monk: Translated from the Greek, and Edited with Notes and Introduction, Hakluyt Society, 1897, p. 363
  2. ^ a b J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  3. ^ a b J. Dodiya, Critical Perspectives on the Rāmāyaṇa, Sarup & Sons, 2001, p. 166-181
  4. ^ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  5. ^ S. K. Aiyangar, Some Contributions of South India to Indian Culture, Asian Educational Services, 1995
  6. ^ R. A. Donkin, Beyond Price: Pearls and Pearl-fishing, Origins to the Age of Discoveries, American Philosophical Society, 1998
  7. ^ Dr. Deborah de Koning, PhD (2022), "Ravanisation": The Revitalisation of Ravana among Sinhalese Buddhists in Post-War Sri Lanka, LIT Verlag, Münster, pages 108-110
  8. ^ Caldwell, Robert (1989). A History of Tinnevelly. pp. 9–10.