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The name of
the Island, on the tongues of foreigners, has varied
profoundly throughout ages. To the ancient Greeks it was
"Taprobane". The Chinese called it "The
Island of Jewels". The Moors devised
"Serendib" a corruption of Sinhala Dvipa in the
Sinhalese language. The Portuguese in the sixteenth
century changed "Serendib" to
"Ceilao"; and the Dutch in the following
century transformed with less imagination
"Ceilao" in to "Ceilon". A hundred
and fifty years later it was anglicised by the English
invaders into "Ceylon". But to the inhabitants
of the Island, it has been always "Sri Lanka" for centuries.
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Copyright
1999. D.F. Ravindra Prabath Perera
All Rights
Reserved.
Last Ipdate
On: April 23, 1999
