History of the Hookah

More and more often these days, one can find hookah bars opening up in even the most staid neighborhoods. This interesting contraption is clearly insinuating itself into Western society, but where did it come from in the first place?

The hookah's early years

One tradition says that the idea for the hookah was first discovered by Hakim Abu’l-Fatḥ Gīlānī, a Persian physician at the Mughal imperial court during the reign of Akbar I (1542 - 1605). Tobacco had just come to Asia from the New World, and it had gained popularity with Indian noblemen. Gīlānī came up with the idea that passing the smoke over water before it was inhaled would purify the smoke and cool it, making it easier to inhale. After persuading the emperor to take up smoking, Gīlānī saw the use of his device develop into a status symbol for rich Indian men. Another tradition indicates that the hookah was already in use in Persia before the reign of Akbar I, meaning that Gīlānī merely introduced the hookah to a larger audience.

The spread of the hookah

Because of the large geographical spread of the sprawling Mughal empire, the hookah quickly began to penetrate upper-class houses all over Central Asia, and its use eventually filtered down to lower levels of society. The popularity of Eastern culture began to spread in the United States and gradually led to the introduction of the hookah there, where it was used in the 1960s and 1970s to smoke both tobacco and marijuana. As the hippies turned into yuppies, the hookah's audience spread from immigrant and counter cultural communities into society at large, and it is now unsurprising to see a hookah bar in mainstream areas of many cities and towns.

Although the hookah is now a familiar sight in cities across the world, its sinuous design and exotic origins still lend this remarkable device a taste of the strange that give it a certain allure.