Editing Sinhalese people (section)

==Etymology==
There are a couple of explanations for the word Sinhala.  Sinhala may be considered a combination of ''sinha'' (සිංහ), literally "lion", and ''la'' (ල), for "slayer" or "taker", hence Sinhala may mean "lion-slayer".<ref name="sinhalese grammar"/> The story of the derivation of Sinhala is told in ''[[Mahāvaṃsa]]'', and it is believed to be a reference to the founding legend of Sri Lanka; the island was conquered by a descendant of [[Sinhabahu]], who is said to have killed his father, a lion.<ref name="sinhalese grammar">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZL0s4wE4ooC&pg=PA1 |title=A Comprehensive Grammar of the Sinhalese Language|author= Abraham Mendis Gunasekara |date= 1999|pages=1&ndash;2 |isbn=9788120601062 |publisher=Asian Educational Services}}</ref>

According to legend, a princess Suppadevi of [[Vanga kingdom|Vanga]] was abducted by a lion, with whom she then bore a daughter called [[Sinhasivali]], and a son, [[Sinhabahu]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/mahavamsagreatch00geigrich |title=Mahavamsa: the great chronicle of Ceylon |last1=Geiger |first1=Wilhelm |last2=Bode |first2=Mabel Haynes |location=London, UK |publisher=Pali Text Society (by Oxford University Press) |year=1912 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mahavamsagreatch00geigrich/page/51 51]–53}}</ref><ref name=wright>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUF_rS8FEoIC&pg=PA332 |title=Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon|author= Arnold Wright |date= 1999|page=332|isbn=9788120613355 |publisher=Asian Educational Services}}</ref>  On the origin of Sinhala, ''Mahāvaṃsa'' says: "By whatever means; the monarch Síha Báhu slew the 'Síha' (lion), from that feat his sons and descendants are called 'Síhala' (the lion-slayers)."  By this account, Sri Lanka conquered and colonised by his descendants therefore also came to be associated with 'Sinhala'.<ref name="sinhalese grammar"/><ref name=wright />

The first king of Sri Lanka, [[Prince Vijaya|Vijaya]], was the son of Sinhabahu, the ruler of [[Sinhapura]]. Some versions suggest Vijaya was the grandson of Sinhabahu.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pattanaik|first=Devdutt|date=4 June 2020|title=Lion King Of Sri Lanka|work=[[Star of Mysore]]|url=https://starofmysore.com/lion-king-of-sri-lanka/|access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/11590 |title=The Ethical Value of Great Chronicle (Mahāvṃsa), the Prime, Heritable and Historical Record of Asians |website=University of Kelaniya|year=2015 |last1=Sugunaseela Thero |first1=Yakkaduwe |last2=Dhammissara Thero |first2=Niwandama }}</ref> According to the Mahavamsa and [[Prince Vijaya#Sources and variations of the legend|other historical sources]], King [[Prince Vijaya|Vijaya]] arrived on the island of [[Tambapanni]] (Sri Lanka) and gave rise to the  Sinhalese. The story of the arrival of [[Prince Vijaya]] in Sri Lanka and the origin of the Sinhalese people is also depicted in the [[Ajanta Caves#Cave 17|Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number&nbsp;17]].

Another suggestion on the origin of Sinhala proposes that the descendants of Sinhabahu may have been called "Sinha" or lions, either because they were descended from a lion or because they were brave like a lion, but those who conquered and settled in Sri Lanka were called Sinhala simply as a derivative of "Sinha" for the people of the lion. Likewise, the conquered lands may be called 'Sinhalaya' or 'Sinhalé' (up-country Sri Lanka), or 'Sinhala dvipa', and their language 'Sinhala' or Sinhala-Bhasha'.<ref name="sinhalese grammar"/>