Sri Lanka (
Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා, romanized: Śrī Lankā;
Tamil: ஶ்ரீ 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).
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 CE.[5]
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]
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 monkFaxian (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]
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 Independence in 1948, the name Ceylon was still used till 1972.
Lanka appears later and in parallel, between the 10th[50]and the 12th centuries CE.[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 RamayanaLanka 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 RamayanaLanka 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.)
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.
The names Serendip, Seren-dip are
Persian and
Arab translation of the Classical Tamil name of Sri Lanka, Séradīb, derived from the Tamil words
Chera (meaning Naga or declivity of a mountain) and Theevu (meaning island).[61]
Lakdiva
Another traditional Sinhala name for Sri Lanka was Lakdiva, with diva also meaning "island".[62] A further traditional name is Lakbima.[63] 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".
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).[64]
The most favoured explanation derives it from a word for the
spurge (palm tree),[65] via the application to a caste of
toddy-drawers, i.e. workers drawing the sap from palm trees for the production of
palm wine.[66]
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.[67][68][unreliable source?]
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.[citation needed] 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.[69][unreliable source?][70] 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.
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.[71] The University of Madras Tamil Lexicon, compiled between 1924 and 1936, follows this view.[65]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.[66]
Thomas Burrow, in contrast, argued that the word was likely to have been Dravidian in origin, on the basis that Tamil and Malayalam "hardly ever substitute (Retroflex approximant) 'ɻ' peculiarly Dravidian sound, for Sanskrit -'l'-." He suggests that the name "Eelam" came from the Dravidian word "Eelam" (or Cilam) meaning "toddy", referring to the palm trees in Sri Lanka, and later absorbed into Indo-Aryan languages. This, he says, is also likely to have been the source for the Pali '"Sihala".[72] The Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, which was jointly edited by Thomas Burrow and
Murray Emeneau, marks the Indo-Aryan etymology with a question mark.[73]
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[clarification needed] is
Hebrew, Galle may have been the entrepôt for the spice.[74]
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.[75]
Ratna Dweepa (Sanskrit) or Ratnadeepa (Sinhala): Meaning Gem Island or Island of Jewels, Sri Lanka is called by this name due to its renowned
gem production.[77][78]
^Robert Caldwell (1989 ), A History of Tinnevelly, pages 9 and 10
^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
^
abcM. M. M. Mahroof, An Ethnological Survey of the Muslims of Sri Lanka: From Earliest Times to Independence, Sir Razik Fareed Foundation, 1986, p. XVI
^James De Alwis, The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Fonseka, Colombo, 1866, p. 150
^
abcdefJ. Dodiya, Critical Perspectives on the Rāmāyaṇa, Sarup & Sons, 2001, p. 166-181
^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
^James De Alwis, The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Fonseka, Colombo, 1866, p. 150
^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
^
abcdR. A. Donkin, Beyond Price: Pearls and Pearl-fishing, Origins to the Age of Discoveries, American Philosophical Society, 1998
^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
^Robert Caldwell (1989 ), A History of Tinnevelly, pages 9 and 10
^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.
^Don Quixote, Volume I,
Chapter 18: the mighty emperor Alifanfaron, lord of the great isle of Trapobana.
^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
^Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
^S. K. Aiyangar, Some Contributions of South India to Indian Culture, Asian Educational Services, 1995
^Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
^Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
^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
^Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
^Ven. Dr. Kalalelle Sekhara, Early Buddhist Saghas and Viharas in Sri Lanka (up to 4th century A.D.),
^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
^J. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire (1860), Le Bouddha et sa religion, page 321
^J. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire (1860), Le Bouddha et sa religion, page 321
^J. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire (1860), Le Bouddha et sa religion, page 321
^Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson : The Anglo-Indian Dictionary, 1903
^Robert Caldwell (1989), A History of Tinnevelly, pages 9 and 10
^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.
^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
^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
^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
^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.
JSTOR41559897.
^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."
^Civattampi, Kārttikēcu (2005). Being a Tamil and Sri Lankan. Aivakam. pp. 134–135.
ISBN9789551132002.
^
abUniversity of Madras (1924–1936).
"Tamil lexicon". Madras: University of Madras. Archived from
the original on 12 December 2012.
^
abSchalk, 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.
ISBN2-85539-630-1..
^Nicasio Silverio Sainz (1972).
Cuba y la Casa de Austria. Ediciones Universal. p. 120. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
^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 ...
^Indrapala, Karthigesu (2007). The evolution of an ethnic identity: The Tamils in Sri Lanka C. 300 BCE to C. 1200 CE. Colombo: Vijitha Yapa.
ISBN978-955-1266-72-1.p. 313
^Caldwell, Robert (1875). A comparative grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages. London: Trübner & Co. p. pt. 2 p. 86.
^Burrow, T.A.; Emeneau, M.B., eds. (1984).
"A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary" (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. Archived from
the original on 7 July 2012. {{
cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (
help) (Online edition at the University of Chicago)