Does the Bible Make Reference to Sri Lanka and South India?

An artistic depictions of King Solomon mentioned in the Bible as the wise and wealthy King of the Israel. He is believed to have ruled from 970 to 931 BCE.

Disclaimer: This article is to simply present some evidence brought forward that suggests Sri Lanka and South India were mentioned in the Bible. I am not making any concrete claims, see this as more of an interesting read.

The Evidence

The Sri Lankan countryside

The Bible informs us that King Solomon engaged in trade with several distant lands two of which is are known as Tarshish and Ophir.

For the king’s navy, once in three years, went with the navy of Hiram by sea to Tarshish, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and elephants’ teeth, and apes, and peacocks. (1 Kings 10:22)

The navy also of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones. 1 Kings 10:11)

It’s not entirely clear where these places are with several competing proposals. One of these claims is that Tarshish is in reference to a port city somewhere on the Western coast of Sri Lanka. Biblical evidence for these places being in Sri Lanka or maybe South India include…

1. Tarshish is mentioned to be an island (Isa 23:6, Psa 72:10)
2. Tarshish could not have been an island near Israel (like Cyprus or Sicily) because it took 3 years for the return journey. (1Kin 10:22, 2Chr 9:21)
3. Jonah attempts to flee to Tarshish which would have made sense as it was a land that was both accessible via trade voyages but still extremely distant from Israel (Jon 1:3, 4:2)
4. Gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks were all brought from Tarshish and these are resources and animals easily found in Sri Lanka. (1Kin 10:22)

Now let’s look at the historical evidence for Tarshish being Sri Lanka…

1. God instructs Moses on the production of Anointing Oil and it makes reference two the two variants of cinnamon known as cassia (a more common kind) and ‘true cinnamon’ which is only native to Sri Lanka. Awareness of these two types of cinnamon indicates that Sri Lankan cinnamon varieties were present in the Middle East during the time of Moses (1500 BC). This points to evidence of ancient trade routes, direct or indirect, between the two regions.
2. Muslim geographer Abdullah El-Idris reported the Sri Lankan king Kasyapa IV (858–891) had a court of 16 officials, of which four were Jewish. Though is long after the time of King Solomon it confirms a historic Jewish presence in Sri Lanka that has since vanished (likely integrated and lost their religion).
3. Several letters found in a storage unit of the synagogue in Old Cairo, Goiten refer to South Asian merchants who traveled throughout the Mediterranean and were established in parts of North Africa and even Spain during the 11th/12th century. Once again long after the Biblical era but still provides evidence of historic trade ties between the regions.
4. Sir William Smith who published A Dictionary of the Bible in 1863 noted several Hebrew words for exotic goods are derived from classical Tamil. The Hebrew word for parrot which is Thukki is derived from the classical Tamil word tokei. Keep in mind parrots are not native to Israel or the Middle East. Several more examples exist.
5. There is a long Jewish tradition that associates the Biblical land of Ophir with modern day Sri Lanka/South India. the 10th century lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi cites Ophir as Serendip (the old Persian term for Sri Lanka).
6. Thyne trees in the Bible are defined as scented wood, and some translations simply make reference to scented wood trees in general. This means sandalwood, native to South Asia, may have fallen under the umbrella of thyne trees at the time.