Names of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Lankā; ta, சிறி லங்கா / இலங்கை, 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.

''Lanka''

''Lak-vaesiyaa'' in Sinhala means an inhabitant of the island of Lanka. ''Lak-diva'' in E'lu (old Sinhala) means the island of Lanka. Another traditional Sinhala name for Sri Lanka was ''Lakdiva'', with ''diva'' also meaning "island". A further traditional name is ''Lakbima''. ''Lak'' in both cases is derived again from ''Lanka''. The same name could have been adopted in Tamil as ''Ilankai;'' the Tamil language commonly adds "i" before initial "l". The Sanskrit epic ''Ramayana'' mentioned it ''Lanka'' and the abode of King Ravan.

The name of Sri Lanka was introduced in the context of the Sri Lankan independence movement, pushing for the independence of British Ceylon during the first half of the 20th century. The name was used by the Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party, which was founded in 1935. The Sanskrit honorific '' Sri'' was introduced in the name of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, Sri Lanka Nidahas Pakshaya), founded in 1952. The Republic of Sri Lanka was officially adopted as the country's name with the new constitution of 1972, and changed to "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" in the constitution of 1978.

Ceylon

Under British rule, the island was known as Ceylon from 1815 to 1972.

Serendip

The name "Serendip" given by Arabs due to Lankan Rubi and pearl. The name Ceylon too originated from an Arabic name "Saheelan" since they had long trading history with Lanka. Then Romans called it "Sielen"
The name ''Ceylon'' has a complicated history going back to antiquity. Theory states that the name comes from ''Sielen'' as the island was known by the Romans as ''Serendivis'' and by Arabs as Serandib and the Persians as ''Serendip'' (the root from which serendipity is derived) while Greeks called the island ''Sielen Diva'' or ''Sieldiba''. The name is said to be based on the word ''Sinhaladvipa'' which is also used in the Culavamsa as a name for the Island. From the word ''Sielen'', many European forms were derived: Latin ''Seelan'', Portuguese ''Ceilão'', Spanish ''Ceilán'', French ''Seilan'', ''Ceylan'', Dutch ''Zeilan'', ''Ceilan'' and ''Seylon'', and of course the English ''Ceylon''. Ptolemy called the Island ''Salike'', and the inhabitants ''Salai''. Another theory is that the name derives from the Tamil words ''cheran'' for the Tamil dynasty of the Chera and the words ''theevu'' which means "island" in Tamil.

''Taprobana, Tamraparni''

''Tamraparni'' is according to some legends 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". Tamraparni is also a name of Tirunelveli, the capital of the Pandyan kingdom in Tamil Nadu. The name was adopted in Pali as ''Tambaparni''.

The name was adopted into Greek as '' Taprobana'', used by Megasthenes in the 4th century BC. 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.

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''. Don Quixote, Volume I, Chapter 18: ''the mighty emperor Alifanfaron, lord of the great isle of Trapobana''.

Helabima

Sri Lanka has also been known as ''Helabima'', meaning "Land of Helas", which is a name that Sinhalese were called. ''Siṃhala'' is attested as a Sanskrit name of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the Bhagavata Purana and Rajatarangini. T

''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'').

The most favoured explanation derives it from a word for the spurge (palm tree), via the application to a caste of toddy-drawers, i.e. workers drawing the sap from palm trees for the production of palm wine.
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''.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 ...

The stem ''Eela'' is found in Prakrit inscriptions dated to 2nd century BC in Sri Lanka in personal names such as ''Eela-Barata'' 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''.p. 313 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. The University of Madras Tamil Lexicon, compiled between 1924 and 1936, follows this view. 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..

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.

''Dambadiva, Jambudvipa''

Although now referring to India, The name had also, earlier been used to name Sri Lanka. As several ancient and pre-colonial sources like an 19th century English book titled '' Ceylon and the Cinghalese'' (written by Sir, Henry Charles) first published in 1850. On page 203, it says that a conference in Dambadiva (57 miles from Colombo) had been requested.

Nickname/Special names

* Pearl of the Indian ocean
* Teardrop in the Indian ocean

See also

* Sri Lankan place name etymology

References

External links

Ancient Names of Sri Lanka

{{Countries and languages lists

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka