Partly because of colonialism, and partly because of the British approach to their colonies, they were exposed to words from other languages. They incorporated these words into English, or from another point of view, English borrowed words from every language of the colonies and even from countries that they never ruled.
There are Indian words from all of the various languages of India, there are Chinese words, there are African words there are Native American words, Persian words and then words from French, Spanish, Italian, German, and even Russian all serendipitously borrowed, with nary a thought for parochial outrage! In fact, there would be a mere handful of countries from whose languages English did not borrow some words.
Here's a list that I can come up with from the top of my head
Hindi- Bangla -Bungalow
Malayalam- Kattumaram -Catamaran
Urdu - Paijamas - Pyjamas
Marwari - Jodhpuri - Jodhpurs
Chinese - Cha - Chai (This may have been borrowed from India)
Vietnam/Malaysia/Singapore - Sarong - Sarong
Tibet- Shangri-la - Shangrila
African ( Swahili) - Safari - Safari
African (Afrikaans) - Apartheid- Apartheid
Arabic - Souk - Souk
French - Abattoir - Abattoir
Spanish - Cucaracha -cockroach
Native Australian- Wo-mur-rang -Boomerang
The list goes on! This is partly because many of the early settlers/explorers did not rule as soon as they arrived in the colonies, they were traders and evangelists. They studied the local culture and today some books by British authors are the authority on local cultures. I know that some studies of the culture of Kerala were so thorough that today they are quoted as references of the culture of the day! I have read some of the books on Ethiopian culture which have not yet reached that status of being a reference but may do so some day! No wonder it has become the language of the world today, everybody can recognise part of their own language in English!
There are Indian words from all of the various languages of India, there are Chinese words, there are African words there are Native American words, Persian words and then words from French, Spanish, Italian, German, and even Russian all serendipitously borrowed, with nary a thought for parochial outrage! In fact, there would be a mere handful of countries from whose languages English did not borrow some words.
Here's a list that I can come up with from the top of my head
Hindi- Bangla -Bungalow
Malayalam- Kattumaram -Catamaran
Urdu - Paijamas - Pyjamas
Marwari - Jodhpuri - Jodhpurs
Chinese - Cha - Chai (This may have been borrowed from India)
Vietnam/Malaysia/Singapore - Sarong - Sarong
Tibet- Shangri-la - Shangrila
African ( Swahili) - Safari - Safari
African (Afrikaans) - Apartheid- Apartheid
Arabic - Souk - Souk
French - Abattoir - Abattoir
Spanish - Cucaracha -cockroach
Native Australian- Wo-mur-rang -Boomerang
The list goes on! This is partly because many of the early settlers/explorers did not rule as soon as they arrived in the colonies, they were traders and evangelists. They studied the local culture and today some books by British authors are the authority on local cultures. I know that some studies of the culture of Kerala were so thorough that today they are quoted as references of the culture of the day! I have read some of the books on Ethiopian culture which have not yet reached that status of being a reference but may do so some day! No wonder it has become the language of the world today, everybody can recognise part of their own language in English!
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