851.—"Near Sarandīb is the pearl-fishery. Sarandīb is entirely surrounded by the sea."—Relation des Voyages, i. p. 5.
c. 940.—"Mas'ūdi proceeds: In the Island Sarandīb, I myself witnessed that when the King was dead, he was placed on a chariot with low wheels so that his hair dragged upon the ground."—In Gildemeister, 154.
c. 1020.—"There you enter the country of Lárán, where is Jaimúr, then Malia, then Kánji, then Darúd, where there is a great gulf in which is Sinkaldíp (Sinhala dvīpa), or the island of Sarandíp."—Al Birūnī, as given by Rashíduddín, in Elliot, i. 66.
1275.—"The island Sailan is a vast island between China and India, 80 parasangs in circuit.... It produces wonderful things, sandal-wood, spikenard, cinnamon, cloves, brazil, and various spices...."—Kazvīnī, in Gildemeister, 203.
1298.—"You come to the island of Seilan, which is in good sooth the best island of its size in the world."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. 14.
c. 1300.—"There are two courses ... from this place (Ma'bar); one leads by sea to Chín and Máchín, passing by the island of Sílán."—Rashíduddín, in Elliot, i. 70.
1330.—"There is another island called Sillan.... In this ... there is an exceeding great mountain, of which the folk relate that it was upon it that Adam mourned for his son one hundred years."—Fr. Odoric, in Cathay, i. 98.
c. 1337.—"I met in this city (Brussa) the pious sheikh 'Abd-Allah-al-Miṣrī, the Traveller. He was a worthy man. He made the circuit of the earth, except he never entered China, nor the island of Sarandīb, nor Andalusia, nor the Sūdān. I have excelled him, for I have visited those regions."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 321.
c. 1350.—"... I proceeded to sea by Seyllan, a glorious mountain opposite to Paradise.... 'Tis said the sound of the waters falling from the fountain of Paradise is heard there."—Marignolli, in Cathay, ii. 346.
c. 1420.—"In the middle of the Gulf there is a very noble island called Zeilam, which is 3000 miles in circumference, and on which they find by digging, rubies, saffires, garnets, and those stones which are called cats'-eyes."—N. Conti, in India in the XVth Century, 7.