... Hitzig compares the well-known name שִׁנְעַר, the Sumêr of the Inscriptions, with the Sanskrit Sinhaladvîpa; and according to the same commentator, Sardanapalus, whose Assyrian name is Assurbanipal = Sardana, "the heart" + pala, "the protector."  Assurbanipal means "the god Assur has begotten a son."  And the Assyrian language, from which these proper names are taken, is a Semitic language, and not an Indian language, as would be supposed from the explanation of Assyrian names as given by Hitzig. (An Essay on Assyriology, Evans, 1883).

Assur-bani-pal.  "Assur, create a Son."  The Sardanapalus of the Greeks, was made co-regent of Assyria with his father, Essar-haddon, in B.C. 670, and became sole king, B.C. 668.  He was a great patron of literature, and institutor of the great library of Kouyunjik, passionately fond of hunting, but cruel, sensual, and effeminate.  At the beginning of his reign, Egypt revolted; but Tirhakah's army was routed at Car-banit, in the Delta, and Egypt reconquered.  A second revolt soon afterwards broke out, but was promptly repressed, and Necho, satrap of Sais, carried to Nineveh, though shortly afterwards released.  Rud-Ammon, Tirhakah's successor, again drove the Assyrians out of Egypt; but his success was short, Egypt had again to submit, and Thebes was sacked.  Tyre, the siege of which had been begun by Essar-haddon, now submitted, as well as the kings of Tubal and Cilicia; and Gyges of Lydia sent tribute to Nineveh.  The Minnians, Medes, and Elamites were also successfully attacked.  But, in B.C. 660, Psammitikhus, the son of Necho, with the help of Gyges, shook off the Assyrian yoke, and under the conduct of Saul-mugina, Assur-bani-pal's brother and satrap of Babylonia, and of Umman-igas and Tammaritu, kings of Elam, a general revolt broke out throughout the whole empire.  Elam had already suffered much from Assyria a few years before, in the reign of Teumman; civil war, however, now broke out there, and the Elamites had to make peace with Assyria.  Babylon, Sippara, Borsippa, and Cuthah were taken, and Saul-mugina burnt himself.  The Arabians and Nabatheans were compelled to return to submission, an Assyrian army being marched into the heart of Arabia, and the revolted cities of Palestine were severely punished.  Taking advantage of a fresh civil war, Assur-bani-pal now sent an army into Elam, which ravaged the country, destroyed Shushan and other cities, and made Elam a dependency of Assyria.  Ardys, son of Gyges, thereupon sent tribute to Assur-bani-pal.  The date of Assur-bani-pal's death is uncertain. (An Archaic Dictionary, Cooper, 1876)