Taprobana

[2] This name could be a reference to the "copper colored" shores of Sri Lanka, and may have entered Greek via the Sinhalese and/or the Pali "Tambapanni".

The first Geography in which it appears is that of Eratosthenes (276 to 196 BC) and was later adopted by Claudius Ptolemy (139 AD) in his geographical treatise to identify a relatively large island south of continental Asia.

[4] Writing during the era of Augustus, Greek geographer Strabo makes reference to the island, noting that "Taprobane sends great amounts of ivory, tortoise-shell and other merchandise to the markets of India.".

Due to this debate following possibilities were considered valid for Taprobana in the Middle Ages: However, this issue was resolved with the rediscovery of Ptolemy's work in the 1400s.

As armas e os barões assinalados, Que da ocidental praia Lusitana, Por mares nunca de antes navegados, Passaram ainda além da Taprobana, Em perigos e guerras esforçados, Mais do que prometia a força humana, E entre gente remota edificaram Novo Reino, que tanto sublimaram "The armed and noble barons, of the western shores of Portugal, Through seas never sailed before, They passed beyond Taprobana, In dangers and difficult wars, showing more than the usual human strength, Among remote people they built New Kingdom, which is quite heavenly."

[14] Jorge Luis Borges mentions the island in the story The Lottery in Babylon in the collection The Garden of Forking Paths (1941) of his book Fictions (1944).