Names of Sri Lanka - Salike

The 2nd-century Greek geographer Ptolemy called the inhabitants Salai and the island Salike ("country of the Salai"), most widely believed to derive from the Pāli Sihalam. Some argue that another Indian name for the island - Salabha ("rich island") - is its source. Others argue that it came via the Egyptian Siela Keh ("land of Siela"), even more similar to Cosmas' Sielen and still of the same ultimate origin. Some scholars also hold that it was merely a corruption, probably by the Greek sailors who traveled to Sri Lanka, of Simhalakahi.