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Home » Asia » What was Sri Lanka called before Portuguese?

What was Sri Lanka called before Portuguese?

December 14, 2021 by Shelia Campbell

Portuguese Ceylon.
Portuguese Ceylon (Portuguese: Ceilão Português, Sinhala: පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව Puruthugisi Lankawa, Tamil: போர்த்துக்கேய இலங்கை Porthukeya Ilankai) is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri-Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658.

Contents

What was the original name of Sri Lanka?

Ceylon
Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobane. Arabs referred to it as Serendib. Later European mapmakers called it Ceylon, a name still used occasionally for trade purposes. It officially became Sri Lanka in 1972.

What did the Dutch call Sri Lanka?

Ceylon
The Dutch presence in Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) lasted 150 years, officially from 1658 when the Dutch expelled the Portuguese, until 1796, the year of the British occupation.

What was Sri Lanka called before 1948?

Ceylon
Ceilão, the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese Empire when it arrived in 1505, was transliterated into English as Ceylon. As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon; it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.

Who came first Tamil or Sinhalese?

The Sinhalese are allegedly the descendants of the Aryan Prince Vijaya, from India, and his 700 followers; they came to Sri Lanka about 485 B.C.E., chased from their homes for their marauding activities. Tamils fall into two groups: Sri Lankan and Indian.

What was Sri Lanka called before 1972?

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

Who came to Sri Lanka first?

Prince Vijaya
According to the Sinhalese tradition, as recorded in the Mahavamsa, the first Indian settlers on Sri Lanka were Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers, who landed on the west coast near Puttalam (5th century bce).

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Was Ceylon a Portuguese colony?

Portuguese Ceylon (Portuguese: Ceilão Português, Sinhala: පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව Puruthugisi Lankawa, Tamil: போர்த்துக்கேய இலங்கை Porthukeya Ilankai) is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri-Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658.

Was Sri Lanka a Portuguese colony?

During this period of 443 years, Sri Lanka has been under the rule of Portuguese (1505-1658), Dutch (1658-1796), British (1796-1948) and Trincomalee Harbour was under the French for few months in 1796. Only the coastal areas of Sri Lanka were colonized until the British conquered the whole island in 1815.

When did the Portuguese came to Sri Lanka?

1505
Famed explorer, Marco Polo, arrived in Sri Lanka in the period between 1254 and 1324, and, in 1505, the Portuguese landed, and occupied the island’s coastal regions.

Are Tamils indigenous to Sri Lanka?

Sri Lankan Tamils (Tamil: இலங்கை தமிழர், ilankai tamiḻar,Tamil: ஈழத் தமிழர், īḻat tamiḻar), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Tamils.

இலங்கை தமிழர் (ஈழத் தமிழர்)
Total population
Sri Lanka 2,270,924 (2012)
Canada ~300,000
United Kingdom ~120,000 (2006)

When did Ceylon become Sri Lanka?

1972
In a new constitution proclaimed in 1972, Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka, while maintaining its link with the British Commonwealth.

When did the Tamils arrive in Sri Lanka?

Today the two major Tamil communities are the Sri Lankan Tamils, who came to the island in waves of migration starting from the 2nd century BC,and the more recent Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka, who were brought as indentured labourers by the British during the colonial period.

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Do Tamils and Sinhalese look different?

The Sinhalese and Tamils both look alike. Think about it. We are both represented by the same hues of brown pigmentation to varying degrees and of other similar phenotypic traits.The concern expressed is that unlike Tamil language which has over a 100 million adherents, Sinhalese is a small ethno-linguistic group.

Is Sinhala a Sanskrit?

Etymology. Sinhala (Siṃhala) is a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan (Eḷu) word is Sīhala. The name is a derivation from siṃha, the Sanskrit word for “lion”.

Why did the Sinhalese and Tamils fight?

The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan Government.

What is first name and last name in Sri Lanka?

The first name is the patronymic name of the father, ancestor or ‘house’ and often has the suffix ‘-ge’ at the end of the name. The second name is the personal name and the third name is the surname. An example of this naming structure is ‘Kaluhandhilage Hemachandra SILVA’.

How did Ceylon became Sri Lanka?

In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka.
Dominion of Ceylon.

Preceded by Succeeded by
British Ceylon Sri Lanka

Where did the name Ceylon come from?

From the word Arab word “saheelan” came the many variations of Ceylon. Celiao in Portuguese, Selan in Spanish, Selon in French. The name was later formalized as Ceylon when the island became a British colony. Ceylon is the name that was used to name the famous tea and many other products exported from the island.

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Who owned Sri Lanka?

Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972.

Did British rule Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka was ruled by 181 monarchs from the Anuradhapura to Kandy periods. From the 16th century, some coastal areas of the country were also controlled by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.Independence was finally granted in 1948 but the country remained a Dominion of the British Empire until 1972.

Filed Under: Asia

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About Shelia Campbell

Sheila Campbell has been traveling the world for as long as she can remember. Her parents were avid travelers, and they passed their love of exploration onto their daughter. Sheila has visited every continent on Earth, and she's always looking for new and interesting places to explore.

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