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

The oldest name of Sri Lanka is Tamraparni[1] (= Taprobana).

Then 6 centuries before Christ, it was called Silam[2][3] [4][5] (pronunciation of the Pali Sihalam[6][3] [7][5]).

In the Dipavaṃsa (the Buddhist oldest historical record of Sri Lanka, 3rd to 4th century CE), it's written that the island was formerly named Sihala.[8]

Around the 9th century,[9] Silam and Sihala became Sailan, Siyalan, Silan.[9]

Lanka appears later and in parallel, between the 10th[10]and the 12th centuries after Christ.[5]

Before 6th century BC : Taprobana, Tamraparni

Taprobane in the Catalan Atlas (1375): "Illa Trapobana".

Tamraparni is the oldest name of Sri Lanka.[11] According to some legends, Tamraparni is the name given by Prince Vijaya when he arrived on the island. The word can be translated as "copper-coloured leaf", from the words Thamiram (copper in Sanskrit) and Varni (colour). Another scholar states that Tamara means red and parani means tree, therefore it could mean "tree with red leaves".[12] Tamraparni is also a name of Tirunelveli, the capital of the Pandyan kingdom in Tamil Nadu.[13] The name was adopted in Pali as Tambaparni.

The name was adopted into Greek as Taprobana, used by Megasthenes in the 4th century BC.[14] The Greek name was adopted in medieval Irish (Lebor Gabala Erenn) as Deprofane (Recension 2) and Tibra Faine (Recension 3), off the coast of India, supposedly one of the countries where the Milesians / Gaedel, ancestors of today's Irish, had sojourned in their previous migrations.[15][16]

The name remained in use in early modern Europe, alongside the Persianate Serendip, with Traprobana mentioned in the first strophe of the Portuguese national epic poem Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões.

John Milton borrowed this for his epic poem Paradise Lost and Miguel de Cervantes mentions a fantastic Trapobana in Don Quixote.[17]

From 6th century BCe to 9th century CE : Silam, Sihala, Sailan

Six centuries before Christ, it was called Silam,[18][19] pronunciation of the Pali Sihalam[20](or Simhalam,[5] Sihalan,[21] Sihala[22]).

Silam was transliterated in other languages by :

  • Sinhale[3] in Sinhala,
  • Ilam[23] in Tamil [= Silam without sibilant[24]]

In the Dipavaṃsa (the Buddhist oldest historical record of Sri Lanka, 3rd to 4th century CE), it's written : The island of Lanka was formerly called Sihala.[25] Sihala means lion's abode[26](from Siha = lion)

On the 2nd century CE, Ptolemy calls[27]the inhabitants Salai.[28][29] Salai has its source[30] in Sihalam (pronounced Silam[31][32]).

The Buddhist monk Faxian (3rd and 4th century CE) calls it Sinhala[33] (or the Lion kingdom[34]). He stayed 2 years in Sinhala and visited it all.[35]

Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th century CE) names it Σιελεδίβα : Sielediba or SieleDiva[36][37] (Diva, Dwipa meaning Island). Siele has also its source[38] in Sihalam (pronounced Silam[39])

From 9th century came the forms Sailan, Saylan (mentioned on the 9th century CE[9][40]).

From 9th century to 15th century CE : Sailan, Saylan, Silan, Seilan

From Silam came the names :

  • Sailan and Saylan, mentioned on the 9th century CE,[9][41]
  • Ilam in Tamil[42]),
  • Siyalan and Silan (mentioned on the 10th century CE[43]), etc.

Marco Polo, in 1298 CE, names it Seilan.[44]

During the 13th and 14th centuries, we found a large usage of the forms Sailan,[45] Sílán,[46] Sillan,[47] Seyllan,[48] etc.

From the 16th century : Ceilão, Lanka ; Zeylan, Ceylon

With the Portuguese colonization in the 16th century, the original local names Silam (pronunciation of Sihalam, 6 centuries BCe[49]), Sihala and Sailan have been translated into Ceilão in Portuguese (from 1505) ; then (from 1640) Zeilan or Zeylan in Dutch ; then (from 1796) Ceylon in English. After Independance in 1948, the name Ceylon was still used till 1972.

Lanka appears later and in parallel, between the 10th[50]and the 12th centuries after Christ.[5]

The name Lanka, a sanskrit word, comes from the Hindu text the Ramayana, where Lanka is the abode of King Ravana.

From the most recent scientific research, we know that the Ramayana Lanka began to be considered as the present-day Sri Lanka between the 10th[51]and the 12th centuries CE.[5] Then from the 16th century, in opposition to colonization, the assertion that the Ramayana Lanka was the present-day Sri Lanka became part of the Sinhalese Buddhist mysthistorical imagination[52] and started to be used by locals in opposition of the portuguese colonial name Ceilão (which however, was the translation of the original names Silam, Silan, Sailan, etc.)

Some recent scientists say that the Ramayana Lanka is not[53][54][55][56][57][58][59] the present-day Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka

The name of Sri Lanka was introduced by the Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party founded in 1935.

The Sanskrit honorific Sri was introduced in the name of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, romanized: Sri Lanka Nidahas Pakshaya) founded in 1952.

In 1972, the Republic of Sri Lanka was officially adopted as the country's name with the new constitution[60] and changed to "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" in the constitution of 1978.

Other names

Serendip, Sinhal-dvip

The names Serendip, Seren-dip, Sinhal-dvip, Sarandīp[61] are Persian and Arab[62] translations based on the words Sinhala-dvipa (dvipa, dipa meaning Island), which is also used in the Culavamsa as a name for the island.[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]

Lakdiva

Another traditional Sinhala name for Sri Lanka was Lakdiva, with diva also meaning "island".[71] A further traditional name is Lakbima.[72] In both cases, Lak is derived from Lanka. The same name could have been adopted in Tamil as Ilangai; the Tamil language commonly adds "i" before initial "l".

Eelam

The earliest use of the word is found in a Tamil-Brahmi inscription as well as in the Sangam literature. The Tirupparankunram inscription found near Madurai in Tamil Nadu and dated on palaeographical grounds to the 1st century BCE, refers to a person as a householder from Eelam (Eela-kudumpikan).[73]

The most favoured explanation derives it from a word for the spurge (palm tree),[74] via the application to a caste of toddy-drawers, i.e. workers drawing the sap from palm trees for the production of palm wine.[75] The name of the palm tree may conversely be derived from the name of the caste of toddy drawers, known as Eelavar, cognate with the name of Kerala, from the name of the Chera dynasty, via Cheralam, Chera, Sera and Kera.[76][77]

The stem Eela is found in Prakrit inscriptions dated to 2nd century BC in Sri Lanka in personal names such as Eela-Vrata/Ela-Bharat and Eela-Naga. The meaning of Eela in these inscriptions is unknown although one could deduce that they are either from Eela a geographic location or were an ethnic group known as Eela.[78][79] From the 19th century onwards, sources appeared in South India regarding a legendary origin for caste of toddy drawers known as Eelavar in the state of Kerala. These legends stated that Eelavar were originally from Eelam. But since the 'H' sound in Dravidian languages is not pronounced profoundly leading to its omission, therefore it is likely that the Eelavar were Hela people given the fact that Ezhava peoples acknowledge the fact that they are of Sinhala origin and that they even have average racial physical differences compared to average Tamils.

There have also been proposals of deriving Eelam from Simhala (comes from Elam, Ilam, Tamil, Helmand River, Himalayas). Robert Caldwell (1875), following Hermann Gundert, cited the word as an example of the omission of initial sibilants in the adoption of Indo-Aryan words into Dravidian languages.[80] The University of Madras Tamil Lexicon, compiled between 1924 and 1936, follows this view.[74] Peter Schalk (2004) has argued against this, showing that the application of Eelam in an ethnic sense arises only in the early modern period, and was limited to the caste of "toddy drawers" until the medieval period.[75]

It seems that the term Eelam is a derivation from the name Hela which is a name for the Sinhala people. The Ezhava caste of Kerala acknowledge their Hela origins from Sri Lanka and were known as Ezhava by the Brahmins in Kerala, this further substantiates the claim that the name Eelam is a derivation of Hela as the 'H' sound in Dravidian languages is not pronounced well leading to the omission of the 'H' sound. Ezhava peoples acknowledge the fact that they are of Sinhala origin and that they even have average racial physical differences compared to average Tamils.

Suggested Biblical names

  • Tarshish. According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was said to be the ancient city of Tarshish where King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks, and others. Cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC and as the root of the word itself is Hebrew, Galle may have been the entrepôt for the spice.[81]
  • Ophir. There is a Jewish tradition that associates the land of Ophir with modern-day India and Sri Lanka. David ben Abraham al-Fasi, a 10th-century lexicographer, cites Ophir as Serendip, as the country was known to the Persians.[82]

Nickname/Special names

  • Pearl of the Indian Ocean
  • Teardrop in the Indian Ocean[83]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Robert Caldwell (1989 ), A History of Tinnevelly, pages 9 and 10
  2. ↑ 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
  3. 1 2 3 M. M. M. Mahroof, An Ethnological Survey of the Muslims of Sri Lanka: From Earliest Times to Independence, Sir Razik Fareed Foundation, 1986, p. XVI
  4. ↑ James De Alwis, The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Fonseka, Colombo, 1866, p. 150
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 J. Dodiya, Critical Perspectives on the Rāmāyaṇa, Sarup & Sons, 2001, p. 166-181
  6. ↑ 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
  7. ↑ James De Alwis, The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Fonseka, Colombo, 1866, p. 150
  8. ↑ Donald W. Ferguson, The Indian Antiquary, A journal of Oriental Research, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Archæological Survey of India, 1884, Volume 13, page 34
  9. 1 2 3 4 R. A. Donkin, Beyond Price: Pearls and Pearl-fishing, Origins to the Age of Discoveries, American Philosophical Society, 1998
  10. ↑ 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
  11. ↑ Robert Caldwell (1989 ), A History of Tinnevelly, pages 9 and 10
  12. ↑ Caldwell, Bishop R. (1 January 1881). History of Tinnevelly. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120601611.
  13. ↑ Arumugam, Solai; GANDHI, M. SURESH (1 November 2010). Heavy Mineral Distribution in Tamiraparani Estuary and Off Tuticorin. VDM Publishing. ISBN 978-3-639-30453-4.
  14. ↑ Friedman, John Block; Figg, Kristen Mossler (4 July 2013). Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-59094-9. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Macalister, Robert Alexander Stewart (1 September 1939). "Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland – Volume 2 (1939)". Retrieved 1 September 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ↑ In the early 1800s, Welsh pseudohistorian Iolo Morganwg published what he claimed was mediaeval Welsh epic material, describing how Hu Gadarn had led the ancestors of the Welsh in a migration to Britain from Taprobane or "Deffrobani", aka "Summerland", said in his text to be situated "where Constantinople now is." However, this work is now considered to have been a forgery produced by Iolo Morganwg himself.
  17. ↑ Don Quixote, Volume I, Chapter 18: the mighty emperor Alifanfaron, lord of the great isle of Trapobana.
  18. ↑ 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
  19. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  20. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  21. ↑ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  22. ↑ S. K. Aiyangar, Some Contributions of South India to Indian Culture, Asian Educational Services, 1995
  23. ↑ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  24. ↑ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  25. ↑ Donald W. Ferguson, The Indian Antiquary, A journal of Oriental Research, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Archæological Survey of India, 1884, Volume 13, page 34
  26. ↑ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  27. ↑ Ven. Dr. Kalalelle Sekhara, Early Buddhist Saghas and Viharas in Sri Lanka (up to 4th century A.D.),
  28. ↑ Indicopleustes, Cosmas; McCrindle, J. W. (24 June 2010). The Christian Topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian Monk: Translated from the Greek, and Edited with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-01295-9.
  29. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  30. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  31. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  32. ↑ 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
  33. ↑ J. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire (1860), Le Bouddha et sa religion, page 321
  34. ↑ J. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire (1860), Le Bouddha et sa religion, page 321
  35. ↑ J. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire (1860), Le Bouddha et sa religion, page 321
  36. ↑ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  37. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  38. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  39. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  40. ↑ mentionned by Al-Jahiz in 868
  41. ↑ mentionned by Al-Jahiz in 868
  42. ↑ Robert Caldwell (1989), A History of Tinnevelly, pages 9 and 10
  43. ↑ Buzurg Ibn Shahriyar, Kitāb ‘Ajāyab-ul-Hind or Livre des Merveilles de l’Inde, Text Arab par P.A. Van der Lith, traduction francaise L. M. Devic, E.J. Brill, (Leiden, 1883–1886), p. 124, p. 265.
  44. ↑ Marco Polo, Book III, chapiter 14.
  45. ↑ in 1275, Kazvini, Gildemeister, 203
  46. ↑ Rashíduddín, in Elliot, I. 70.
  47. ↑ Odoric of Pordenone, in Cathay and the Way Thither, I, 98.
  48. ↑ Giovanni de' Marignolli, in Cathay and the Way Thither, II, 346.
  49. ↑ J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society, Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, B. Franklin, Volume 98, 1897
  50. ↑ 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
  51. ↑ 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
  52. ↑ 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
  53. ↑ "Valmiki's Ramayana". Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  54. ↑ Vālmīki; Venkatesananda, Swami (1 January 1988). The Concise R_m_ya_a of V_lm_ki. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780887068621.
  55. ↑ Moor, Edward (1999). The Hindu Pantheon – Edward Moor – Google Books. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120602373. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  56. ↑ Bell, Harry Charles Purvis (1998). Excerpta Máldiviana - H.C.P. Bell, Harry Charles Purvis Bell – Google Books. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120612211. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  57. ↑ Purnalingam Pillai, M. S. (1993). Ravana - The Great King of Lanka - M.S. Purnalingam Pillai – Google Books. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120605473. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  58. ↑ "Situation of Ravana's Lamka on the Equator". The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society. XVII (1). 1926.
  59. ↑ Braddell, Roland (December 1937). "An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Times in the Malay Peninsula and the Straits of Malacca". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 15 (3 (129)): 64–126. JSTOR 41559897.
  60. ↑ Articles 1 and 2 of the 1972 constitution: "1. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) is a Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic. 2. The Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State."
  61. ↑ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  62. ↑ Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
  63. ↑ Barber, Robert K. Merton, Elinor (2006). The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity : A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science (Paperback ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 1–3. ISBN 0-691-12630-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  64. ↑ Cuba y la Casa de Austria. Ediciones Universal. 1 January 1972.
  65. ↑ Ramachandran, M.; Mativāṇan̲, Irāman̲ (1 January 1991). The spring of the Indus civilisation. Prasanna Pathippagam.
  66. ↑ Ouseley, William (1 January 1819). Travels in Various Countries of the East.
  67. ↑ Malte-Brun, Conrad; Huot, Jean-Jacques-Nicolas (1 January 1834). A System of Universal Geography, Or, A Description of All the Parts of the World, on a New Plan, According to the Great Natural Divisions of the Globe: Accompanied with Analytical, Synoptical, and Elementary Tables. S. Walker.
  68. ↑ Rawlinson, H. G. (Hugh George), 1880–1957. (2001). Intercourse between India and the western world : from the earliest times of the fall of Rome. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-1549-2. OCLC 50424520.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  69. ↑ "The Island". www.island.lk. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  70. ↑ Buddhism in the modern world : adaptations of an ancient tradition. Heine, Steven, 1950–, Prebish, Charles S. New York: Oxford University Press. 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-534909-2. OCLC 65193228.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  71. ↑ Silvā, Ṭī Em Jī Es (1 January 2001). Lakdiva purāṇa koḍi (in Sinhala). Sūriya Prakāśakayō. ISBN 9789558425398.
  72. ↑ Bandara, C. M. S. J. Madduma (1 January 2002). Lionsong: Sri Lanka's Ethnic Conflict. Sandaruwan Madduma Bandara. ISBN 9789559796602.
  73. ↑ Civattampi, Kārttikēcu (2005). Being a Tamil and Sri Lankan. Aivakam. pp. 134–135. ISBN 9789551132002.
  74. 1 2 University of Madras (1924–1936). "Tamil lexicon". Madras: University of Madras. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012.
  75. 1 2 Schalk, Peter (2004). "Robert Caldwell's Derivation īlam < sīhala: A Critical Assessment". In Chevillard, Jean-Luc (ed.). South-Indian Horizons: Felicitation Volume for François Gros on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Pondichéry: Institut Français de Pondichéry. pp. 347–364. ISBN 2-85539-630-1..
  76. ↑ Nicasio Silverio Sainz (1972). Cuba y la Casa de Austria. Ediciones Universal. p. 120. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  77. ↑ M. Ramachandran, Irāman̲ Mativāṇan̲ (1991). The spring of the Indus civilisation. Prasanna Pathippagam, pp. 34. "Srilanka was known as "Cerantivu' (island of the Cera kings) in those days. The seal has two lines. The line above contains three signs in Indus script and the line below contains three alphabets in the ancient Tamil script known as Tamil ...
  78. ↑ Akazhaan. "Eezham Thamizh and Tamil Eelam: Understanding the terminologies of identity". Tamilnet. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  79. ↑ Indrapala, Karthigesu (2007). The evolution of an ethnic identity: The Tamils in Sri Lanka C. 300 BCE to C. 1200 CE. Colombo: Vijitha Yapa. ISBN 978-955-1266-72-1.p. 313
  80. ↑ Caldwell, Robert (1875). A comparative grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages. London: Trübner & Co. p. pt. 2 p. 86.
  81. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140728201052/http://www.econsortium.info/Psychosocial_Forum_District_Data_Mapping/galle.pdf
  82. ↑ Culture (4 October 2020). "Does the Bible Make Reference to Sri Lanka and South India? | Indo-Christian". medium.com. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  83. ↑ "A teardrop in the Indian Ocean". 6 October 2005.

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