Taprobane

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The island of Ceylon is referred to in ancient Greek texts.

Origin
Two possible origins are mentioned:
Tamrapardni, the word Sanskrit tamrapardni referring to a "copper leaf", perhaps because of pre-existing trade, or because of the shape of the island;
Tambapanni, a Sinhalese word meaning "hands" (panni) "red" (tamba). According to the Sinhalese legend, the first farmers from North India laid their hands on the soil that was ochre or red soil.

History

Egyptians
Before the Greeks, the Egyptians would have been in contact with the island. Pline says they were going to Ceylon in 20 days of sailing aboard Nile ships, made of papyrus.
It was probably through the Egyptians that the Greeks had first knowledge of this distant land that they first called "land of the Antichtons", or "land of the other side of the world".

Greeks ( - )
With the conquests of Alexander the Great and the beginning of the Hellenistic period, the Greeks came closer to the island and opened a new era of knowledge.
From BC, the Greeks know it's an island.
Onesicrite (c. 330 B.C.), pilot of Alexander the Great's fleet, writes that elephants are larger and wilder than in India, that the island does, that between India and Ceylon 20 days ago of sailing with slow ships, that between India and Ceylon there are other islands and amphibious animals that resemble oxen, horses and other terrestrial animals...
Megasthenes (BC) calls its inhabitants "Paleogenes" ("formerly born"), and indicates that it is richer in gold and large pearls than India.
Ashoka (273-237 B.C.) an Indian ruler sent his sons and daughters into the island. The island is then known as Tambapani.
Eratosthenes (B.C.) gives the island's measurements: long, 5000 wide, and indicates that it houses 700 cities. At that time the sailing time was only 7 days.

The Romans ( - )
Since Alexander's conquests, Greek and then Roman traders regularly went to the island, and they brought back wealth and some information; It is likely that Indian and Sinhalese traders also went to the Greco-Roman world.
The Red Sea voyage ( ) cites the island of Taprobane, assimilated to Pailaiseimundium.
Pliny the Elder (23-79) tells us that in the , between 41 and 54 more precisely, Roman Annius Plocamus, having bought from Emperor Claude the exclusive right to trade at sea Eritrea (name designating at the time the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean) sends a free trade explore these seas. The latter landed at Hipporos, a port on the southwest coast of the island of Taprobane. He stayed there for six months, learning the language and customs. He returned to Rome with four ambassadors