Ancient Greek geographers called it ''Taprobanā'' () or ''Taprobanē'' () from the word ''Tambapanni''. The Persians and Arabs referred to it as ''Sarandīb'' (the origin of the word "serendipity") from Sanskrit ''Siṃhaladvīpaḥ''. ''Ceilão'', the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese Empire when it arrived in 1505, was transliterated into English as '''Ceylon'''. As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon; it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.