දෙමල හැඩ ගත් පැරණි සිංහල ගම්-නම්  - මුල් පිට
Traditional Sinhala place names in Sri Lanka and their Tamilized forms.

Madura English-Sinhalese Dictionary Cologne-Sanskrit-Tamil-English dictionaries English-Sinhala-Tamil trilingual dictionary

Madura English-Sinhala Dictionary Sinhala Unicode keyboard Hindi-English Sabdakosh

Use Englsih keys to output sinhala unicode: ඉංග්‍රිසියෙන් සිංහල ලියන්න Madras Tamil Lexicon Hindi-English dictionary

Sri Lanka was called Lanka, ලංකා Tambapanni, Sinhalé etc., in ancient times. The Tamil name Cinkalam சிங்களம் is used in early Tamil literary works. The name Lanka, used in the Epic chronicles, was adopted in to Prakrit with the addition of a leading vowel which could be "a, e, (h)e, or i". Thus the form Lanka → Helanka හෙලංකා appears in Sinhala Prakrit (language of the common people) as the abbreviated form Hela, හෙල. Sinhala Prakrit itself became known as "Elu", or "Hela-basa" හෙලබස. Similarly, the name Lanka → Ilankai was adapted during the Cankam period into Dravidian languages, giving its Tamil form Ilankai, இலங்கை. This is further clarified by noting that eighteen countries are mentioned in early Tamil literature, clearly distinguishing "cinkalam" from "Tamlaak(h)am", viz., cimkaḷam, conaakam, cā vakam, cīṉam, tuḷuvam, kutakam, konkanam, kanna-tam, kollam, telin(g)kam, kalin(g)kam, vaṅkam, kaṅ- kam, makatam, kaṭāram, kavuṭam, koklam, tamilakam;   சிங்களம், சோனகம், சாவகம், சீனம், துளுவம், குடகம், கொங் ;கணம், கன்னடம், கொல்லம், தெலிங்கம், கலிங்கம், ;வ ங்கம், கங்கம், மகதம், கடாரம், கவுடம், கோசலம், தமிழகம்.   The early Pali writings of Sri Lanka also mention similar names for kingdoms located in the subcontinent. The origins of the Sinhala language are probably linked to the Magadhi of the Asokan (northern) Parkrit ( early Brahmi script), and Pali, while Tamil is linked to a southern prakrit (with a very similar Brahmi script). However, the two forms of Brahmi, and their Prakrit forms are themselves very close. Even the word "Dameda", or "Damila" (Dravidian) probably signified a geographic location (southern), i.e., south of the Vindyah mountains, as viewed by the northern Sanskrit writers. The Tamil or Sinhala ethnic identity probably did not evolve until the early sangam period (this view seems to be held by I. Mahadevan). The existence of place-names like Nagarjuna konda (i,e., kanda, කන්ද, hill) in South India, and Sinhala-prakrit artifacts imply that there was considerable cultural exchange across the Palk straits (Seth-Samudra yaaya මූදු යාව see discussion under Palk Strait). Nevertheless, the Palk straits shielded the Island sufficiently to create unique biological species, a unique "Sinhala language" (see James W. Gair and others) as well as a Tamil culture distinct from that of Tamil-Nadu. Jayakumar, and also Mahadevan have discussed 2nd BCE Sinhala influences extending into South India itself.
It should be noted that race or ethnicity , as understood today was of little consequence in ancient times, when it was the caste that was most important. The Brahma was believed to have created "castes" and not ethnicities. Thus kings always married other "Kshatriyas", irrespective of ethnicity.
The pre-Buddhist people of Lanka may have been even Kirats-Yakkas, or other unknown groups. Asokan Brahmi (Sinhala Prakrit) script has been found in the 3rd century BCE stone inscriptions of Sri Lanka. The study of toponyms also shows the cultural closeness of these two language groups, immensely influenced by Sanskrit (in this document we use the name 'Sanskrit' to include all proto-forms related to the language of the Rig Veda, and not just the systematized form).
The North and East of Sri Lanka were populated by people who were largely Sinhala-speaking Buddhists till about the 12th century. The place names in the whole country were mostly Sinhala names. South Indian invasions led to a gradual modification of the original place names which acquired a Tamil garb, as stated by many scholars like Paul E. Peries, Horsburg, J. P. Lewis, S. Paranavitana, Dr. K. Inthirapala, Ven. E. Medhananda and others. K. Velu Pillai in Yalpana Vaibhava Kaumudi devotes a whole chapter to Sinhala place names in Jaffna.
Captain Robert Percival, a British officer who covered in Ceylon from the late 1790s to 1820 has given a valuable account of Ceylon just prior to the transiton from the Dutch to the Britsh. This gives an account of the Northern Peninsula which suggests that Muslim settlers had a slight edge in numbers over the Tamils and Sinhalese. The latter were land owners who sold their land and moved to the south.
Percival's 1803 Book in PDF format
Buddhism flourished in South India during the time of Buddhagosha (author of Visuddhi-magga); and Lanka too had Buddhist Tamils as a small but important minority, with many of them resident in Anuradhapura.   Read also Tamil Buddhists in Ancient Jaffna?

Here we focus on the old Sinhala names of the tamilized Place names in the North and East. The existence of multiple place-names for a given location testifies to the rich cultural tapestry of the nation. This centralized list and maps would make it convenient for Sinhala writers, artists, scientists, engineers, politicians - anyone- to use the Sinhala names when ever this is appropriate, in an entirely voluntary manner, thus helping to maintain and revive the cultural heritage of the country.
Read more details.

The existence of place names in both languages attests to the easy co-existence and close cultural affinity of these two communities which lived in peace. This can be true of the whole country, even today, when ethnically biased programs and racist politics are defeated.

The claim of an exclusively Tamil, "Traditional Homeland", or a "Tamil Kingdom ", initiated officially by the 1949 Maradana resolution of the Ilankai Arasu Kadchi has been the most serious threat to this. See
• Michael Roberts: Tamil nationalism: Journal of South Asian Studies, n.s., Vol.XXVII, no.1, April 2004
• G. Iriyagolla: Tamil claims to Land, Fact and Fiction
• A journalistic compendium on the "Mythical Jaffna Kingdom" - by an unknown Sinhalese author.
• "Right to reclaim" articles by Lt. Cmdr. Hemachandra Part I   Part II   Part III   part IV   part V  
• How did the tiny Jaffna kingdom evolve into a larger Tamil homeland? by Johnpulle