Sri Lanka, The name and its History

SIHALADEEPA- This is another ancient name acquired by the Island.” Sihaladeepa” means the “island of the Sihala”. Prince Vijaya and his followers were known as the Sihala, because of Vijaya’s supposed lion ancestry according to the Mahawamsa, the ancient chronicle of Sri Lanka’s history.

Parasamudra- This is an ancient name by which Sri Lanka was known, is the earliest reference to Sri Lanka in Indian Literature. In Kautilya's “Arthasastra” Sri Lanka is referred to as “Parasamudra”, meaning beyond the ocean.

LANKA- This is one of the most ancient names used for Sri Lanka, and can be seen in the Ramayana, in which the island was simply referred to as “Lanka”.

LANKADEEPA,LAKDIVA,LAKBIMA-

Another ancient name for Sri Lanka was “Lankadeepa”. This is the name by which Sri Lanka was known at the time of Gautama Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist religion 2,500 years ago. Diwa or Deepa means island. Thus “Lakdiva also means “Island of Lanka”. Bima in Sinhala means Land. Thus “Lakbima” means “The land of Lanka”.

TAMBAPANNI-

The Island then acquired the name “Tambapanni”, a name that originated after Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers landed on the west coast of the Island near Puttalam in the 5th century B.C. The sand on this coastal stretch was copper-colored with a reddish-brown hue. Hence the name Tamba-panni, Tamba meaning Copper.

PALAESIMOUNDU- This is an ancient name used by some ancient Greek writers to refer to Sri Lanka. Historians are of the view that the name “Palaesimoundu” may have been derived from the Indian name “Parasamudra”. SIMOUNDU-This is an abbreviated form of the word “Palaesimoundu” also used by ancient Greek writers.

TAPROBANE- Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Mauryan King, Chandragupta, and Eratosthenes one of the first Greek Geographers referred to Sri Lanka as the “Island of Taprobane”, probably derived from the name” Tambapanni”.Pliny(24-79 AD) and Ptolemy in the middle of the second century A.D., both Greek Geographers referred to Sri Lanka as the “Island of Taprobane”.

ILANKAI-The ancient name used by Tamils to refer to Sri Lanka.

SINGALDIP - The 10th Century Arab historian Al-Biruni or Abu Rihaan Muhammad called the Island “Singaldip”-also derived from Sinhala and dipa.

SERENDIB/SERENDIVI- The name given by the Arabs to Sri Lanka is “Serendib”-“The Island of Rubies”(Sri Lanka Rubies).The Arab traveler Ibn Batuta and the Arab Geographer Al-Idrisi referred to Sri Lanka as “Serendib”.

Saheelan-Ibn Shahriyar, the Arab author of the book Ajab-al-Hind meaning Marvels of India, written in the year 960 A.D.refers to Sri Lanka by the usual Arab term Serendib, but also states that the country was also known as” Saheelan”, which is another term used by the Arabs to refer to Sri Lanka. ZEYLAN/SEYLAN The Europeans referred to Sri Lanka as “Zeylan” or “Seylan”, which is derived from the Arabic word “Saheelan”. CEYLON- This is the name by which the British referred to Sri Lanka. The name Ceylon is obviously derived from the word zeylan or Seylan, which in turn was derived from the Arabic word Saheelan.

As per above throughout its history, the island of Sri Lanka has been known by many names. Among Greek writers, beginning with Onesicritus of Astypalaea, a commander in the fleet of Alexander the Great, the most common name for the island was Taprobane. This name was subsequently adopted by all Latin authors as well. It is generally agreed that the name Taprobane was derived from the Sanskrit Tamraparni (Pali Tambapanni) since the latter forms occur both in the ancient Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicles ( Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa) and in the Rock Edicts of Ashoka with apparent reference to the island of Sri Lanka.

Historians have discussed these and other names that have been thought to refer to Sri Lanka in ancient Greek and Roman texts ranging in date from the late fourth century B.C. to the middle of the sixth century A.D. Besides Taprobane, the only names accepted as genuine references to the island are mentioned at the beginning. The name Lanka-dipa, although common in India, apparently was not known by Greek and Latin writers.

Historians argue that prior to the seventh century A.D., most information about Sri Lanka was acquired by Greek and Roman writers indirectly, through contacts with Indian merchants, envoys, or missionaries. Since archaeological excavations have revealed that trade between India and Sri Lanka was well established early in the first millennium B.C., even the earliest Greek writers could have learned of Sri Lanka from Indian sources.

The Romans, too, seem to have had limited direct contact with the island. Only two visits to Sri Lanka by Romans have been recorded: that of a freedman of Annius Plocamus in the first century A.D., which resulted in the sending of a delegation from Sri Lanka to Rome during the reign of the emperor Claudius (A.D. 41-54) (Pliny), and that of Sopatros, probably in the fifth century A.D. This is not surprising, for products from Taprobane were readily available in Indian markets so there was no need to travel to Sri Lanka to obtain them. Moreover, historians argue that those sailing between Egypt and the west coast of India during the southwest monsoon would have arrived in India in September or October. In order to take advantage of the northeast monsoon for their return journey, they would have had to depart India shortly thereafter, sometime in November, so no time would have been available for even a brief trip to Sri Lanka.

While recognizing that some of the utopian aspects of Taprobane recorded by Pliny were derived from earlier authors, historians point out that parts of Pliny’s account may reflect the actual political situation on the island. For example, the ancient Buddhist chronicles represent Bhatikabhaya, the Sri Lankan king who presumably was responsible for sending the embassy to Rome during Claudius’ reign, as a benevolent ruler, in contrast to those rulers who immediately preceded him. His conduct, according to historians, is intended by Pliny to stand in opposition to that of the Roman principate. For this reason, and because Claudius himself had a strong interest in history and may have seen to it that the information supplied by the Sri Lankan ambassadors about their country was properly recorded,

In general, the criteria historians apply in judging whether or not an account contains a valid reference to Sri Lanka involve the accuracy with which the geography of the island is represented, how well details in the accounts correspond to evidence from indigenous sources, and whether or not they involve “linguistic fallacies.” In the latter category are those place names that include the root “Div-” which many have thought must refer to Sri Lanka because of its similarity to the name that the Arabs gave to the island in the Middle Ages — Serendib.

The original texts of all of the ancient Greek and Roman sources that refer to the island of Sri Lanka and the artifacts of special interest are the Roman and Indo-Roman bronze coins of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. These have been found in great numbers on the island, often as part of large hoards. Many texts are in private collections, of unknown provenience, or inadequately published writings.

Looking for an historical event that might have precipitated the sudden importation of large numbers of Roman and Indo-Roman bronze coins, the invasion from South India of a certain Pandu who, according to the Mahavamsa, ruled the island from A.D. 433-460. Historians further suggest that most of the coin hoards from Sri Lanka may represent temple donations and payments made to soldiers during Pandu’s reign. The abandoning of these hoards may have been the result of disturbances that accompanied the Sinhala rebellion led by Dhatusena, which ended South Indian rule of the island in A.D. 460.

Historians have proven that rivers played a significant role in the ancient trade of Sri Lanka, both as a means for transporting goods to the interior and as locations for ports, the remains of which they have identified near the estuaries of several major rivers. The generally accepted notion that circumnavigation of the island was first accomplished by European invaders of the sixteenth century. This leads to a review of seafaring and trade patterns in the region, beginning with the Proto-historic period when contact between Sri Lanka and India is first attested, and extending, albeit briefly, to Persian, Arab and Chinese trade with the island.