Themajor health risks of smoking tobacco, cannabis, opium and other drugs through a hookah include exposure to toxic chemicals, carcinogens and heavy metals that are not filtered out by the water,[3][8][9][10][11] alongside those related to the transmission of infectious diseases and pathogenic bacteria when hookahs are shared.[3][9][12][13] Hookah and waterpipe use is a global public health concern, with high rates of use in the populations of the Middle East and North Africa as well as in young people in the United States, Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia.[3][8][9][10][11]
The hookah or waterpipe was invented by Abul-Fath Gilani, a Persian physician of Akbar, in the Indian city of Fatehpur Sikri during Mughal India;[9][14][15] the hookah spread from the Indian subcontinent to Persia first where the mechanism was modified to its current shape and then to the Near East.[16] Alternatively, it could have originated in the Safavid dynasty of Persia,[9][17][18] from where it eventually spread to the Indian subcontinent.[19][20]
Despite tobacco and drug use being considered a taboo when the hookah was first conceived, its use became increasingly popular among nobility and subsequently widely accepted.[21] Burned tobacco is increasingly being replaced by vaporizing flavored tobacco. Still the original hookah is often used in rural South Asia, which continues to use tumbak (a pure and coarse form of unflavored tobacco leaves) and smoked by burning it directly with charcoal.[22] While this method delivers a much higher content of tobacco and nicotine, it also incurs more adverse health effects compared to vaporizing hookahs.[citation needed]
The word hookah is a derivative of "huqqa", a Hindustani word,[2][23][24] of Arabic origin (derived from حُقَّة ḥuqqa, "casket, bottle, water pipe").[25] Outside its native region, hookah smoking has gained popularity throughout the world,[16] especially among younger people.[26]
"Narguile"[34] is the common word in Spain used to refer to the pipe, although "cachimba"[35] is also used, along with "shisha" by Moroccan immigrants in Spain. The word "narguil" is used in Portuguese. "Narguil" is also used in French, along with "chicha".
Arabic شيشة (šīšah), through Ottoman Turkish word شیشه (şşe), itself a direct loanword from Persian شیشه (šīše) meaning "glass container", is the common term for the hookah in Egypt, Sudan and also other Arab world regions such as Arab Peninsula (including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Yemen and Saudi Arabia), Algeria, Tunisia. It is used also in Morocco, Somalia[36] and Cyprus. In Yemen, the Arabic term مداعة (madā`ah) is also used, but for pipes using pure tobacco.
In Persia, hookah is called "qalyān" (قلیان). Persian qalyan is included in the earliest European compendium on tobacco, the tobacologia written by Johan Neander and published in Dutch in 1622. It seems that over time water pipes acquired a Persian connotation as in eighteenth-century Egypt the most fashionable pipes were called Karim Khan after the Persian ruler of the day.[37] This is also the name used in Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania and Belarus.[38]
Instead of copper, brass and low-quality alloys, manufacturers increasingly use stainless steel and aluminium. Silicone rubber compounds are used for hookah hoses instead of leather and wire. New materials make modern hookahs more durable, eliminate odors while smoking and allow washing without risks of corrosion or bacterial decay. New technologies and modern design trends are changing the appearance of hookahs. Despite the obvious benefits of modern hookahs, because of high production cost and lack of modern equipment in traditional hookah manufacturing regions, most hookahs are still produced with older technologies.
The concept of hookah is thought to have originated in medieval India.[48][15] Once the province of the wealthy, it was tremendously popular especially during Mughal rule. The hookah has since become less popular; however, it is once again garnering the attention of the masses, and cafs and restaurants that offer it as a consumable are popular. The use of hookahs from ancient times in India was not only a custom, but a matter of prestige. Rich and landed classes would smoke hookahs.
Koyilandy, a small fishing town on the west coast of India, once made and exported hookahs extensively. These are known as Malabar Hookhas or Koyilandy Hookahs. Today these intricate hookahs are difficult to find outside Koyilandy and are becoming difficult even to find in Koyilandy itself.
Although it has been traditionally prevalent in rural areas for generations,[54] smoking hookahs has become very popular in the cosmopolitan cities of Pakistan. One can see many cafs in Pakistan offering hookah smoking to its guests. Many households even have hookahs for smoking or decoration purposes.
In big cities like Karachi and Lahore, cafes and restaurants offered Hookah and charged per hour. In 2013, it was banned by the Pakistan Supreme court. The cafe owners started offering shisha to minors, which was the major reason for the ban.[55]
The hookah (Bengali: হুক্ক, romanized: hukka) has been a traditional smoking instrument in Bangladesh, particularly among the old Bengali Muslim zamindar gentry.[56] However, flavoured shisha was introduced in the early 2000s. Hookah lounges spread quite quickly between 2008 and 2011 in urban areas and became popular among young people as well as middle-aged people as a relaxation method. There have been allegations of a government crack-down on hookah bars to prevent illicit drug usage.[57] The hookah is also an electoral symbol for a candidate used first in the 1973 Bangladeshi general election.[58] In the biography of Mountstuart Elphinstone, it is mentioned that James Achilles Kirkpatrick had a hookah-bardar (hookah servant/preparer) during his time in the Indian subcontinent. Kirkpatrick's hookah servant is said to have robbed and cheated Kirkpatrick, making his way to England and stylising himself as the Prince of Sylhet. The man was waited upon by the Prime Minister of Great Britain William Pitt the Younger, and then dined with the Duke of York before presenting himself in front of George III.[59]
Nowadays, the cities of Kathmandu, Pokhara and Dharan have special hookah bars. Although hookahs have started becoming popular among younger people and tourists, the overall number of hookah smokers is likely dwindling owing to the widespread availability of cheaper cigarettes.[61]
In the Arab world and the Middle East, people smoke waterpipes as part of their culture and traditions. Local names of waterpipe in the Middle East are, argila, čelam/čelīm, ḡalyān or ghalyan, ḥoqqa, nafas, nargile, and shisha.[49]
Social smoking is done with a single or double hose hookah, and sometimes even triple or quadruple hose hookahs are used at parties or small get-togethers. When the smoker is finished, they either place the hose back on the table, signifying that it is available, or hand it from one user to the next, folded back on itself so that the mouthpiece is not pointing at the recipient.
In 2010 the Hamas-led Islamist government of Gaza imposed a ban on women smoking hookahs in public. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry explained that "It is inappropriate for a woman to sit cross-legged and smoke in public. It harms the image of our people."[64] The ban was soon lifted later that year and women returned to smoking in popular venues like the cafe of Gaza's Crazy Water Park.[65]
The exact date of the first use of ḡalyān in Iran is not known. However, the earliest known literary evidence of the hookah, anywhere, comes in a quatrain by Ahlī Shirazi (d. 1535), a Persian poet, referring to the use of the ḡalyān,[66] thus dating its use at least as early as the time of the Shah Ṭahmāsp I. This suggests, the hookah was already in use in ancient Persia, and it made its way into India soon afterward.[citation needed]
In 2014, Saudi Arabia was in the process of implementing general smoking bans in public places. This included shishas.[74][75] Currently, hookah remains legal in the country, with some restaurants charging customers extra fees.[76]
Although perceived to be an important cultural feature of Syria (see Smoking in Syria), narghile had declined in popularity during most of the twentieth century and was used mostly by older men. Similar to other Middle Eastern countries, its use increased dramatically during the 1990s, particularly among youth and young adults.[77][78] As of 2004, prior to the Syrian civil war, 17% of 18- to 29-year-olds, 10% of 30- to 45-year-olds, and 6% of 46- to 65-year-olds reported using narghile, and use was higher in men than women.[78] More recent data is not available.
Nargile became part of Turkish and Balkan culture from the 17th century. Back then, it became prominent in society and was used as a status symbol. Nargile was such an important Turkish custom that it even sparked a diplomatic crisis between France and the Ottoman Empire.[79] Western Turkey is noted for its traditional pottery production where potters make earthenware objects, including nargile bowls.[80]
Hookah was virtually unknown in Southeast Asia before the latter 20th century, yet the popularity among contemporary younger people is now vastly growing.[82] Southeast Asia's most cosmopolitan cities, Makati, Bangkok, Singapore (now banned),[83] Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, now have various bars and clubs that offer hookahs to patrons.[citation needed]
Although hookah use has been common for hundreds of years and enjoyed by people of all ages, it has recently started to become a youth pastime in Asia.[84] Hookahs are most popular with college students, and young adults, who may be underage and thus unable to purchase cigarettes.[85]
In South Africa, hookah, colloquially known as a hubbly bubbly or an okka pipe, is popular among the Cape Malay and Indian populations, wherein it is smoked as a social pastime.[88][failed verification] However, hookah is seeing increasing popularity with South Africans, especially the youth.[89] Bars that additionally provide hookahs are becoming more prominent, although smoking is normally done at home or in public spaces such as beaches and picnic sites.[citation needed]
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