New filmViceroy’s House is a historical drama following Lord Mountbatten’s turbulent rule as the last Viceroy of India. One legacy of Britain’s time in power is the remarkable volume of words from India which were absorbed into the English language.

When you got up this morning, did you take off your pyjamas, shower shampoo your hair, or even do some yoga stretches before eating kedgeree for breakfast? If you did, then you probably did not stop to contemplate the origin of those everyday words.

But pyjamas, shampoo, kedgeree and yoga are just some of the words that have been adopted into the English language, one of the many legacies of the British presence in India that lasted more than three hundred years.

Hindi, Urdu and Persian words made their way into the English language

In the early years, when East India Company officials and traders were seldom accompanied by their wives, they readily adopted local customs, clothes and food.

What could be more appealing, or sensible, in the sultry Indian heat, than swapping their tight breeches and jackets for the loose-fitting “paj jamahs” – literally “leg clothing” – worn by men and women in India?

As time went by, more and more Hindi, Urdu and Persian words made their way into the English language as Army officers, traders and civil servants brought them back to Britain along with the silks, carpets and tiger skins they had acquired in India.

Different culture: Manish Dayal and Huma Qureshi in Viceroy's House Credit: Pathé

The words sometimes evolved to mean something slightly different from the original. Gymkana, for example, came from “gend-khana” – “ball house” in Hindi, usually describing a tennis court or any kind of sporting facility, but has come to describe a children’s equestrian tournament.

Shampoo was a massage for the body, but now means a liquid hair wash, while dungaree was a word for coarse cotton cloth.

So what other words have we assimilated and adapted from the days of the Raj? Hobson-Jobson, the famous Anglo-Indian dictionary, is filled with definitions of words that now feel as British as fish and chips but have Eastern roots.

Wristy business: ‘bangri’ became ‘bangle’ in English Credit: getty

Some of them now sound somewhat archaic, others are so much part of the English language that, like shampoo and pyjamas, we forget that they were originally imported. Here are some of those still in common usage:

Avatar – from the Sanskrit word meaning incarnation of a Hindu deity, or incarnation in human form. Bangle – from the Hindi bangri, meaning a ring of coloured glass worn on a woman’s wrist. Bungalow – a one-storey house, often with a pyramid roof. Most Europeans in India lived in such houses. Calico – woven cotton cloth originally made in Calicut – now Kozhikode – a city in southwest India. The fabric was dyed with bright patterns and exported to Europe. Jodhpurs – named after Jodhpur, the city in Rajasthan from which these trousers, loose at the thigh and tightly-fitted below the knee, were adopted first by British polo players and then by other riders. Juggernaut – taken in English to mean a “huge, powerful and overwhelming” force, or a very large lorry, is a corruption of the Sanskrit word Jaganndtha, lord of the universe, a name of the Hindu God Krishna. Jungle – in Hindi, the word “jangala” means waste, uncultivated ground, but was taken in “Anglo-Indian” to mean a wild forest. Kedgeree – the spicy rice and fish dish now served at hotel breakfast buffets comes from the Hindi “chichri”, a mess of rice, cooked with butter and dal and flavoured with spice and onion. Fish was not originally part of the dish. Loot – from the Hindi “lut” and Sanskrit “lotra”, meaning rob or plunder. Pukka – popularised by Jamie Oliver, it comes from the Hindi word “pakka” meaning ripe, mature, cooked, well-built. Punch – as in the drink, literally means “five” from the Persian “panj”, because it was traditionally composed of five ingredients: arrack (distilled spirits) sugar, lime juice, spice and water. Thug – from the Hindi word “thag”, or the Sanskrit “sthaga” meaning cheat or swindler, it came to mean a violent robber, operating in a gang, who befriends travellers before strangling them and then stealing their possessions.

From one empire, two nations are born



To celebrate the release of new film Viceroy’s House, the Telegraph has created a series of fascinating articles about life during the Raj, the political turmoil of the time and the legacy that colonial rule has left on our lives today. Find out more at tgr.ph/viceroyshouse now.

Set in 1947 during the six months leading up to Indian independence and the creation of Pakistan, Viceroy’s House is a historical drama following Lord Mountbatten’s turbulent rule as the last Viceroy of India.

Featuring an incredible cast including Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi and Michael Gambon, and directed by Gurinder Chadha, Viceroy’s House is in cinemas UK-wide from 3 March.