Ministry of Health
Pre-Historic Medicine in Ceylon | Medicine under Sri Lankan kings
Sri Lanka was known by various people by various names. It has been called Lanka by the ancient Sinhalese, Taprobane by the Greeks, Serendib by the Arabs, Ceilao by the Portuguese, Ceylan by the Dutch and Ceylon by the British. With the promulgation of the new constitution in 1972, the name was officially changed to Sri Lanka. The history of medicine in Sri Lanka has been fashioned over the centuries by a synthesis of several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, some of which were unique to the country.