Nargile-Shisha-Water Pipe-Hookah History

Hookah is an entertainment originating from the Arab countries, that has become popular all over the world. In the West it is usually called Hookah and Shisha (also Hooka and Sheesha), but it’s also known as just a Water pipe. In Asian countries it goes by the name Nargile.

Traditionally, the purpose of Hookah has always been to lower stress levels and to relax among friends.
The home country of Hookahs it is wrongly thought to be Turkey, but actually it was in India, where more than 500 years ago a first Hookah was made out of coconut crust, which is considered to be the prototype of all modern Hookahs. Despite its primitivity, it became so popular that soon it found its way to every Arab country by the help of merchants and emigrants.

The real revolution in Hookah world happened indeed in Turkey, where during hundreds of years a whole culture, with its set of traditions and rituals emerged from smoking Hookahs.
Turkish people made significant upgrades in Hookahs, bringing the technology and handicraft behind them to a whole new level, while also adding decorations and engravings. A Hookah was by far not just a commodity, it was a real artisan work.

Significant popularity came on the era of Murat IV (1623 -1640), when they started producing Hookahs which look like the ones sold nowadays. Satisfaction, that this simple and yet so pretty Hookah gave these people was just overwhelming. It probably seemed even more so, because Water pipes were the only allowed weakness a person could allow to oneself in the Islamic religion.
On 19th – 20th century Shishas popularity reached to Europe, where it became an elegant addition to saloon nights and intellectuals’ meetings.