Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES
"chess piece," c.1300, from O.Fr. roc, from Arabic rukhkh, from Pers. rukh, of unknown meaning, perhaps somehow related to the Indian name for the piece, rut, from Hindi rath "chariot." Confused in M.E. with roc. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=rook&searchmode=none
(from just about the least untrustworthy of all the armchair etymology sources out there, which is saying something but not much)
Wikipedia also seems to buy the chariot theory for rooks, although it does mention a few cases where the names are switched in India: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chess#Early_history
Anyway, this makes more sense to me. Chariots moving in a straight line, elephants being surprisingly awkward in a melee.
The Rook is still called a Chariot in at least a few of the Indian languages. Ditto with the Bishop and the Elephant. So thats quite possibly true.