91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Person    | Male  Born 1759  Died 1851

Sake Dean Mahomed

Sake Dean Mahomed

A Bengali Muslim, he joined the East India Company aged 11, where he served as a solder and fought a few times. Resigned in 1782 and two years later with his friend from the army Captain Godfrey Evan Baker, travelled to Ireland where he published 'The Travels of Dean Mahomet' and married a Protestant Irish girl and converted. They came to London where he introduced a therapeutic massage, or champi ('shampoo') which became all the rage.

In 1810 he opened the Hindoostane Coffee House, serving Indian-style food; we are unclear whether it served any actual coffee. It seems not to have been a success since he was declared bankrupt in 1812. The food served was a hybrid of Indian and British food and perhaps it did not appeal to either nationality. Things have changed: it's often said that the food served in modern-day Indian restaurants in the UK is not real Indian food but an Anglicised version which is certainly very popular. Mahomed moved to Brighton where he reverted to his successful champi and treated, among others, George IV and William IV, and where he later died.

From we can add: "Sake Dean Mahomet (Sheikh Din Muhammad) was born in Patna, in what is now the Indian state of Bihar, in 1759. At age eleven, he joined the service of an Anglo-Irish officer in the army of the British East India Company, campaigning in Bengal. In 1787, Mahomet accompanied the officer back to Ireland. .... Mahomet lived in Cork for twenty years. He and his family moved to London in 1807.... His only other publication was an 1822 tract—on the benefits of shampooing."

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Sake Dean Mahomed

Creations i

First curry house

Site of Hindoostane Coffee House 1810 London's first Indian restaurant. Owne...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Other Subjects

Pinoli's Restaurant

Pinoli's Restaurant

Londonist tells us this restaurant was the venue chosen for the 1920 "the end-of-year dinner of the influential Hampstead branch of the Communist Party of Great Britain", watched closely by British...

Group, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Fanny Cradock

Fanny Cradock

An early TV cook.  Born at the site of the plaque in Apthorp, as Phyllis Pechey.  A double bigamist, she only married her fourth husband Johnny, who appeared on TV with her, when she was 68.  A ser...

Person, Food & Drink, TV & Radio

1 memorial
George Inn

George Inn

This George Inn existed in the late 16th century though originally known as The George and Dragon.  The current building was erected in 1677 after a serious fire destroyed most of Southwark.  The n...

Building, Food & Drink

3 memorials
Loyal Temperance Legion

Loyal Temperance Legion

The children's branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and still active in 2008 - we found the pledge with a link to join: "The Pledge: That I may give my best service to home and country...

Group, Children, Food & Drink, Religion

1 memorial
Lyons first teashop

Lyons first teashop

See Joseph Lyons and J. Lyons & Co. The photo is probably c.1930/40s.

Place, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial