Lieutenant Commander Somasiri Devendra (The Sunday Times Plus, “Westward Ho!”, April 19) is to be commended for piqueing our interest in the Jaffna Thoni “Annapoorani”.Interestingly, the Tamil word “thoni” is related to the Maldivian Dhivehi word “dhoni”. Apparently, both words derive from the Farsi word for “yacht”.
For much of history, the Persians dominated the lanes of the Arabian Sea.
The stories of Sindbad the Sailor are in fact Persian (the “1001 Nights” are misnamed “The Arabian Nights”). Hence the adoption by other nations of a name for a vessel in the language of the dominant sea-going culture is understandable.
Incidentally, Lt. Cmdr. Devendra says the longest voyage undertaken by a Sri Lankan naval ship, prior to that of the SLNS Samudra (USCG Courageous), from Norfolk to Colombo, was that of the minesweeper HMCyS Parakrama, which sailed to Japan in 1961.
However, am I wrong in thinking that HMCyS Vijaya sailed to England for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1954?
The distance from Colombo to London is approximately 1,000 nautical miles greater than that from Colombo to Yokohama.
Vinod Moonesinghe. |
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