Although the island located close to India is called Sri Lanka today, she had a few names before as well. When the very first king of Sri Lanka (an Indian prince) arrived on the island, he was overjoyed and called the beautiful island Thambapanni. Once trade began with the Arabs and Persian, the countries in the west and middle east came to know this island as Serendib which is a much-loved ancient name of the island. Yet again, once the island was colonised by the British, they established the name Ceylon. Sound familiar? The name Sri Lanka came into being when the country gained independence. The word Sri means resplendent in the local language; thus, Sri Lanka means Resplendent Island.