Hookah History Lesson Egyptians call it shisha, Lebanese refer to it as nargila, and in English it is known most commonly as hookah.  No matter what name it is given, however, hookahs have been smoked by people of various cultures and nationalities for hundred of years.  For something with such widespread tradition, however, few smokers are aware of the rich history of the hookah under any of its many guises.

Birth Of The Hookah Accounts of the first cultures to use the hookah are debated, along with what constitutes a modern hookah, but a number of facts are well-known.  The original design for the hookah is believed by most to have come from India or Persia, but it was rather primitively made from a coconut shell. With two holes bored into the coconut's husk, milk was originally used to filter hookah smoke. Although what this may have tasted like is questionable, the popularity of the hookah quickly spread to other areas of the Middle East. Hookah Popularity Grows Hookahs spread to Iran and then the rest of the Arab world. It was in Turkey, however, that the water pipe completed its revolution and has hardly changed its style for the last few hundred years. Styles and materials are often interchangeable, but almost all hookahs traditionally consist of four basic pieces: Agizlik: the mouthpiece of the hose of a hookah Lle: the top of the hookah or bowl Marpu: the tube or hose Gvde: the body of the pipe which is filled with water All pieces of the pipe were produced by special craftsmen, which were named after the piece they produced.  The shisha tobacco, also called tombac, gouza, moass or sheesha, is a blend of fresh, dark tobacco leaves, fruit pulp, honey or molasses and glycerin. Shisha Tobacco Is Born It is rumored shisha tobacco originated when one smoker used molasses to give consistency to shredded tobacco leaves and a trend was born.  The tobacco is available in a wide variety of flavors, including apple, strawberry, melon, pineapple, vanilla, pistachio and rose, among many others. Hookahs are traditionally smoked among groups, as participants discuss politics, religion and daily happenings. Coffee houses became major sources of news and gossip while smokers sipped strong coffee, puffed tobacco and conversed freely with people throughout the area. Hookah Status Symbols Hookahs soon became important status symbols as well. Offering one to a guest became an important sign of trust, and withholding it could be taken as a serious insult. In 1841, a diplomatic crisis broke out between France and the Ottoman Empire after a sultan declined to offer the French ambassador a chance to smoke with him.  Hookah smoking is still largely social, though coffee houses are no longer as important to the spread of local news. The practice still offers social interaction and conversation. Reprinted from the Daily Eastern News