THE HISTORY OF HOOKAH
The term Shisha goes back on the persian word “shishe”, which means “glass”.
Another term for the waterpipe, that is used quite often, is “Nargile”. This word is the persian expression “nargile” and means coconut. So it describes one of the materials, that the original, indian waterpipe has been made of. Deduced from this term, there are also the words in Sanskrit (ancient indian language) “narikela” and “argila” and “nargila” in certain Syrian and Hebrew dialects. Further used term are “goza” (Sudanese for nut), which is mainly used for small hookahs, as well as the word “Hookah“, which is used in Great Britain and the USA for waterpipe.
Origin and developement:
The waterpipe and the shisha- tobacco, the way we know them today, has not been invented overnight. The hookah has emerged within a long period of about 500 years as the smoking device with fruity flavour and light smoke, which is so popular today. Originally the hookah comes from the very North of India, to be more precise from the regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat, close to the Pacistan border.
Primarily, the waterpipe has been manufactured out of coconuts. The hookah bowl consisted of the hard and watertight shell of the coconut, the smoke-stem was made of a hollow bamboo tube. As a kind of hose, they probably used a straw or a thinner bamboo tube.
Different from now, they have been smoking complete tobacco leaves, nowadays called “Tömbeki” also name ”Tubekki” in Cyprus. These have been moistured with water and then rolled up around a stick, to make them a cylindrical shape, while a little hollow funnel remained in the middle. The coal, which normally was charcoal from coconut wood, has been put directly on the tobacco leaves.
Via Persia the waterpipe reached Arabia between the 16th and 17th century, then reached the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and North-Africa, especially Tunesia and Egypt.
Anyway, the waterpipe has emerged in the arabic countries as a cultural good, because as soon as something is prohibited, people badly want to do it. The hookah symbolizes a well-balanced lifestyle, hospitality and sociability. Celebrated in coffee houses quite a lot, smoking hookah soon became a social event, to make families and friends meet. To make these events even more special, sweets and cookies have been served, while tea and coffee was consumed. For these smoking events several rules had to be obeyed. It was not allowed, for example, to light the coal with a candle, and ones own hookah mustn’t be positioned higher then the hookahs of others. Violating these rules could have ment the exclusion from the community. Very often, thehookah was a precious family heirloom, passed on from generation to generation. In those days, the top part of the hookahhas been developed the way we know it now: With a smoke-stem made of metal, a bowl made of glass and a hose made of leather. The function of a hookah, though, always stayed the same.
After the zenit of waterpipes, they became more and more unfashioned at the beginning of the 20th century. When they first symbolized friendship and sociality, they were now frowned upon being a smoking device of old people – similar to the classical tobacco pipes today in our society – or have been catching dust as a piece of scenery or as a souvenir from last years holiday in Arabic Countries and also Mediterranean countries such as Cyprus and Turkey .
Within the last 10 years, the hookah has experienced a renaissance. It has been rediscovered by the young generation of Arabic society and became an item of lifestyle. Now smoking hookah is regarded as modern and stylish. And it also has regained the worth of relaxing in a group of sympathic people – nowadays called “Chilling”.
In big cities like Dubai, hundreds of Hookah Cafès have opened within a few years only, where mainly young grown-ups and adolescents meet at night. The nightlives of these cities can not be imagined without those hookah bars. Older generations often sense this as negative, because modern hookah bars are pushing traditional coffee houses aside. In the meantime, the trend of modern hookah bars has also asserted itself in Europe and the USA. Many young people smoke hookah regularly or every now and then. In the years 2005 and 2006 we have had a real hookah-hype, which is, in fact, already slowing down again.
An explanation about why hookahs became so popular could be, that smoking waterpipe is such a contrast to all day’s life, which is getting faster and faster. Smoking hookah means silence, relaxing, having time for thoughts and talks. A feeling, that a quick cigarette between two business dates can’t procure.
Another term for the waterpipe, that is used quite often, is “Nargile”. This word is the persian expression “nargile” and means coconut. So it describes one of the materials, that the original, indian waterpipe has been made of. Deduced from this term, there are also the words in Sanskrit (ancient indian language) “narikela” and “argila” and “nargila” in certain Syrian and Hebrew dialects. Further used term are “goza” (Sudanese for nut), which is mainly used for small hookahs, as well as the word “Hookah“, which is used in Great Britain and the USA for waterpipe.
Origin and developement:
The waterpipe and the shisha- tobacco, the way we know them today, has not been invented overnight. The hookah has emerged within a long period of about 500 years as the smoking device with fruity flavour and light smoke, which is so popular today. Originally the hookah comes from the very North of India, to be more precise from the regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat, close to the Pacistan border.
Primarily, the waterpipe has been manufactured out of coconuts. The hookah bowl consisted of the hard and watertight shell of the coconut, the smoke-stem was made of a hollow bamboo tube. As a kind of hose, they probably used a straw or a thinner bamboo tube.
Different from now, they have been smoking complete tobacco leaves, nowadays called “Tömbeki” also name ”Tubekki” in Cyprus. These have been moistured with water and then rolled up around a stick, to make them a cylindrical shape, while a little hollow funnel remained in the middle. The coal, which normally was charcoal from coconut wood, has been put directly on the tobacco leaves.
Via Persia the waterpipe reached Arabia between the 16th and 17th century, then reached the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and North-Africa, especially Tunesia and Egypt.
Anyway, the waterpipe has emerged in the arabic countries as a cultural good, because as soon as something is prohibited, people badly want to do it. The hookah symbolizes a well-balanced lifestyle, hospitality and sociability. Celebrated in coffee houses quite a lot, smoking hookah soon became a social event, to make families and friends meet. To make these events even more special, sweets and cookies have been served, while tea and coffee was consumed. For these smoking events several rules had to be obeyed. It was not allowed, for example, to light the coal with a candle, and ones own hookah mustn’t be positioned higher then the hookahs of others. Violating these rules could have ment the exclusion from the community. Very often, thehookah was a precious family heirloom, passed on from generation to generation. In those days, the top part of the hookahhas been developed the way we know it now: With a smoke-stem made of metal, a bowl made of glass and a hose made of leather. The function of a hookah, though, always stayed the same.
After the zenit of waterpipes, they became more and more unfashioned at the beginning of the 20th century. When they first symbolized friendship and sociality, they were now frowned upon being a smoking device of old people – similar to the classical tobacco pipes today in our society – or have been catching dust as a piece of scenery or as a souvenir from last years holiday in Arabic Countries and also Mediterranean countries such as Cyprus and Turkey .
Within the last 10 years, the hookah has experienced a renaissance. It has been rediscovered by the young generation of Arabic society and became an item of lifestyle. Now smoking hookah is regarded as modern and stylish. And it also has regained the worth of relaxing in a group of sympathic people – nowadays called “Chilling”.
In big cities like Dubai, hundreds of Hookah Cafès have opened within a few years only, where mainly young grown-ups and adolescents meet at night. The nightlives of these cities can not be imagined without those hookah bars. Older generations often sense this as negative, because modern hookah bars are pushing traditional coffee houses aside. In the meantime, the trend of modern hookah bars has also asserted itself in Europe and the USA. Many young people smoke hookah regularly or every now and then. In the years 2005 and 2006 we have had a real hookah-hype, which is, in fact, already slowing down again.
An explanation about why hookahs became so popular could be, that smoking waterpipe is such a contrast to all day’s life, which is getting faster and faster. Smoking hookah means silence, relaxing, having time for thoughts and talks. A feeling, that a quick cigarette between two business dates can’t procure.
BEGINNER’S MISTAKES
With hookahs it’s the same as it is with any other hobby: Beginners begin with making mistakes.
Of course, mostly that is no problem at all, but it is even better to avoid mistakes from the start.
1. Smoking with coal sieve
As an accessory for almost all those typical greengrocery-shishas is a so calles coal sieve, which you supposedly can put over the tobacco bowl instead of the aluminium foil and which represents the installation face of the coal in that way. These coal sieves can be quite useful for unusual setups, though, but normally you would never use them on their own. There’s no way to controll the heat, that reaches the tobacco with sieves, so the hookah tastes like charcoal, a good flavour can never occure.
So: Use aluminium foil from the start!
2. The super cool hookah from the oriental greengrocery
This is a mistake, almost every hookah smoker does in the beginning: He is impressed by the laboriously decorated, large, “noble” waterpipes from the oriental greengrocery next door, and finally buys it overpriced. Mostly, these hookah are no-name products, produced from cheap metal sheets, and rusty after only a few weeks.
Better: Chose quality, not shapes.
3. Washing the hose
With the most hookah purchases, a hose of artificial leather is delivered, which is said to be washable. This declaration in 99% of the cases is wrong. The delivered hoses have a thin plastic foil inside, which are unable to hold back the water, when you’re washing them – what makes the hose molder, after all – And they have a little metal helix, that starts rusting, as soon as it gets into contact with water. A hose “washable”, only when it’s inside totally consists of plastic. But only hoses of a higher price category – starting at about 15€ – are!
So: Never wash the standard hose, otherwise it will molder. Hang up hose vertically, so it can dry.
4. Glowing the coal thoroughly through
Another mistake beginners do is to put the self-flammable charcoal on the tobacco bowl only very shortly after lighting it, and then starting to smoke immediately. This doesn’t only taste horrible, but also is very unhealthy, because the coal is burning black powder or other accelerants constantly while igniting. The smoker then inhales these substances. As a negative side effect, it lasts very long, untill the hookah coal burns through.
Tip: First let the coal glow thoroughly through – maybe help with puffing.
Of course, mostly that is no problem at all, but it is even better to avoid mistakes from the start.
1. Smoking with coal sieve
As an accessory for almost all those typical greengrocery-shishas is a so calles coal sieve, which you supposedly can put over the tobacco bowl instead of the aluminium foil and which represents the installation face of the coal in that way. These coal sieves can be quite useful for unusual setups, though, but normally you would never use them on their own. There’s no way to controll the heat, that reaches the tobacco with sieves, so the hookah tastes like charcoal, a good flavour can never occure.
So: Use aluminium foil from the start!
2. The super cool hookah from the oriental greengrocery
This is a mistake, almost every hookah smoker does in the beginning: He is impressed by the laboriously decorated, large, “noble” waterpipes from the oriental greengrocery next door, and finally buys it overpriced. Mostly, these hookah are no-name products, produced from cheap metal sheets, and rusty after only a few weeks.
Better: Chose quality, not shapes.
3. Washing the hose
With the most hookah purchases, a hose of artificial leather is delivered, which is said to be washable. This declaration in 99% of the cases is wrong. The delivered hoses have a thin plastic foil inside, which are unable to hold back the water, when you’re washing them – what makes the hose molder, after all – And they have a little metal helix, that starts rusting, as soon as it gets into contact with water. A hose “washable”, only when it’s inside totally consists of plastic. But only hoses of a higher price category – starting at about 15€ – are!
So: Never wash the standard hose, otherwise it will molder. Hang up hose vertically, so it can dry.
4. Glowing the coal thoroughly through
Another mistake beginners do is to put the self-flammable charcoal on the tobacco bowl only very shortly after lighting it, and then starting to smoke immediately. This doesn’t only taste horrible, but also is very unhealthy, because the coal is burning black powder or other accelerants constantly while igniting. The smoker then inhales these substances. As a negative side effect, it lasts very long, untill the hookah coal burns through.
Tip: First let the coal glow thoroughly through – maybe help with puffing.
HOOKAH RULES
During the long history of waterpipes, which ranges over different areas of the earth, a smoking culture with hard rules has emerged. Many smokers do not follow these rules, but still they are interesting to know – simply because they are traditional.
In the height time of hookahs it was possible to become barred from the society for not obeying these rules. Maybe everybody should start following these rules again, to experience an even more relaxed hookah party.
1. You should, if possible, smoke in good company. Smoking on your is not prohibeted, though, but originally smoking hookah is a social event and a symbol for hospitality.
2. The hookah should be positioned on the floor. Putting the waterpipe on the ground is a tradition, that has emerged slowly. You will rarely find a hookah on a table in Arabia or Egypt.
3. It is not allowed to pose the own hookah on a higher place then the hookahs of others. This would be interpreted as a disrespect and would lead to uncomfortable atmosphere.
4. You shouldn’t smoke a cigarette while sitting in hookah round. This on one hand tampers with the taste and smell of thehookah, and on the other hand gives you the appearance of being unpatient.
5. The conversation should be calm. Talking loudly and gesturing hecticly would disturbe everyones rest and spoil the comfortable atmosphere.
6. The hose must not be passed on to the next smoker in the round, but it should be put on the table or hung to the waterpipe, so the next one can take it anytime he wants, and wouldn’t feel like being set under pressure to smoke.
In the height time of hookahs it was possible to become barred from the society for not obeying these rules. Maybe everybody should start following these rules again, to experience an even more relaxed hookah party.
1. You should, if possible, smoke in good company. Smoking on your is not prohibeted, though, but originally smoking hookah is a social event and a symbol for hospitality.
2. The hookah should be positioned on the floor. Putting the waterpipe on the ground is a tradition, that has emerged slowly. You will rarely find a hookah on a table in Arabia or Egypt.
3. It is not allowed to pose the own hookah on a higher place then the hookahs of others. This would be interpreted as a disrespect and would lead to uncomfortable atmosphere.
4. You shouldn’t smoke a cigarette while sitting in hookah round. This on one hand tampers with the taste and smell of thehookah, and on the other hand gives you the appearance of being unpatient.
5. The conversation should be calm. Talking loudly and gesturing hecticly would disturbe everyones rest and spoil the comfortable atmosphere.
6. The hose must not be passed on to the next smoker in the round, but it should be put on the table or hung to the waterpipe, so the next one can take it anytime he wants, and wouldn’t feel like being set under pressure to smoke.