Chess was invented in ancient India, evolving from the game chaturanga during the Gupta period before spreading to Persia and beyond. Shampoo originated in the Indian subcontinent, with early hair-washing preparations used in the Indus Valley and the term entering English from Hindi during the colonial era.
Chess origin
- Most historians trace chess to chaturanga in 6th-century India, which modeled infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots on a board game that later influenced Persian shatranj.
- From Persia, the game spread through the Islamic world into medieval Europe, gradually adopting modern rules and the check/checkmate terminology.
Shampoo origin
- Early shampoos were prepared in the Indus Valley using natural saponins from plants like soapnuts, representing some of the earliest hair-cleansing formulations in the region.
- The English word “shampoo” derives from Hindi “chāmpo,” with the practice popularized in Britain in the early 19th century by Sake Dean Mahomed’s “Indian Medicated Vapour Bath” and massage treatments.
