The popular board game Snakes & Ladders was originally developed in India as a lesson in religious philosophy. Known by names like ‘Mokshapat’ and ‘Gyan Chaupar’, the history of the game is traced to the 10th century CE. With the ‘ladders’ representing virtues and the ‘snakes’ vices, it conveyed the message that good deeds led to heaven and evil ones to a cycle of rebirth.

Did you know that the word ‘Pashmina’ literally means ‘soft gold’ in Kashmiri? It’s an apt word for the highly prized, insanely expensive, lightweight fur obtained from the high-altitude Himalayan Changthangi goat. While the art of making these exquisite shawls was known for millennia, it was only in the 15th century CE that the word ‘Pashmina’ was used for this fine wool. Zain-ul-Abdin (r. 1418-1470), the then King of Kashmir, founded the Pashmina wool industry in Kashmir.

The board game Ludo has its roots in the 6th century CE, in the Indian game of Pachisi, which was very popular in ancient and medieval India. In 1874, E G Selchow & Co trademarked a game called ‘Parcheesi’, which went on to become America’s longest-selling board game until the release of Monopoly in 1935.

The fifth-largest polished diamond in the world, the 185-carat Jacob diamond, was found by Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, in the toe of his father’s shoe! Before the Nizam discovered what the stone really was, he had used it as a paperweight. It is now in the custody of the Indian government, who bought it for USD 13 million in 1995

Did you know that India gave the world a genre of music called ‘Chutney music’? It was rooted in Indian folk songs sung by indentured labourers taken from North India to the Caribbean by the British and the Dutch to work in sugarcane plantations there in the 19th century. These songs later incorporated elements of calypso and soul, with the lyrics being a fusion of English and Hindi.

The popular board game Snakes & Ladders was originally developed in India as a lesson in religious philosophy. Known by names like ‘Mokshapat’ and ‘Gyan Chaupar’, the history of the game is traced to the 10th century CE. With the ‘ladders’ representing virtues and the ‘snakes’ vices, it conveyed the message that good deeds led to heaven and evil ones to a cycle of rebirth.

Did you know that the word ‘Pashmina’ literally means ‘soft gold’ in Kashmiri? It’s an apt word for the highly prized, insanely expensive, lightweight fur obtained from the high-altitude Himalayan Changthangi goat. While the art of making these exquisite shawls was known for millennia, it was only in the 15th century CE that the word ‘Pashmina’ was used for this fine wool. Zain-ul-Abdin (r. 1418-1470), the then King of Kashmir, founded the Pashmina wool industry in Kashmir.

The board game Ludo has its roots in the 6th century CE, in the Indian game of Pachisi, which was very popular in ancient and medieval India. In 1874, E G Selchow & Co trademarked a game called ‘Parcheesi’, which went on to become America’s longest-selling board game until the release of Monopoly in 1935.

The fifth-largest polished diamond in the world, the 185-carat Jacob diamond, was found by Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, in the toe of his father’s shoe! Before the Nizam discovered what the stone really was, he had used it as a paperweight. It is now in the custody of the Indian government, who bought it for USD 13 million in 1995

Did you know that India gave the world a genre of music called ‘Chutney music’? It was rooted in Indian folk songs sung by indentured labourers taken from North India to the Caribbean by the British and the Dutch to work in sugarcane plantations there in the 19th century. These songs later incorporated elements of calypso and soul, with the lyrics being a fusion of English and Hindi.