| Many of the various names of the
hookah are of Indian, Turkish, Uzbek, Persian or Arab origin. "Narghile"
is from the Persian word nārgil, or "coconut", and in Sanksrit
nārikera, since the original nargile came from India and was made out of
coconut shells. "Shisha" is from the Persian word shishe, or "glass"
(this is the correct literal translation, not bottle). "Hashishe" is
also an Arabic word for grass, which may have been another way of saying
tobacco. Hookah may stem from Arabic uqqa, meaning small box, pot, or
jar. Both names refer to the original methods of constructing the
smoke/water chamber part of the hookah. "Narghile" is the name most commonly used in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Greece and Israel, though the initial "n" is often dropped in Arabic. "Shisha" is more commonly seen in Egypt. In Iran it is called ghalyoun or ghalyan and in Pakistan it is referred to as huqqa. The origins of the hookah pipe are argued over by many. The main countries claiming to be the father of the hookah are India, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Syria. The likelihood is the pipe in its many forms probably made an appearance in more than one country independently and through ancient trade routes started to take shape into what we now consider a standard form. Most of the worlds pipes today are manufactured in Syria, Egypt and Turkey. |
