Indian inventions and discoveries have been instrumental in shaping the face of the 21st-century modern day world. From small accessories such as a button to games such as chess and ludo, attar, rulers and many more, here's a look at 9 pre-British inventions that have shaped the modern world and we bet that these will make you go, “I didn’t know that”!

Shampoo: Also known as champoo, the invention of shampoo dates to 1762. A variety of herbs and their extracts were used as shampoos since ancient times in India. The first and the most effective early shampoo was made by boiling Sapindus with dried Indian gooseberry (aamla) and a few other herbs, thus thereby using the strained extract as a shampoo. Sapindus is also known as Ksuna in ancient Indian texts and its fruit pulp contain saponins which has a natural surfactant. The extract of Ksuna, creates a lather which Indian texts identify as phenaka that makes the hair soft, shiny and manageable. Shikakai (Acacia concinna), soapnuts (Sapindus), hibiscus flowers, ritha (Sapindus mukorossi) and arappu (Albizzia amara) were other products that were used to cleanse the hair. The founding prophet and the first Guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak made references to soapberry tree and soap in back in 16th century. Washing of hair and body massage (champu) during a daily bath was a part of indulgence of early colonial traders in India. When they returned to Europe, they introduced their newly learned habits, including the hair treatment that they called shampoo or champu!