This article is about a traditional smoking pipe. For divers supplied with breathing gas from the surface, see surface supplied diving.
Syrian Chiller hookah
Syrian Chiller hookah
A hookah (Arabic: شيشة; Hindustani: हुक़्क़ा / حقّہ) is a multi-stemmed, often glass-based, water pipe device for smoking; originating in Iran, it gained fame in the Arab World when it traveled from the Qajars in Iran. A hookah operates by water-filtration and indirect heat. It can be used for smoking many substances, such as herbal fruits and tobacco. Depending on locality, hookahs are known as other names, such as a shisha/sheesha, water pipe, nargeela/nargile/narghile/nargileh/narguilé, argeela/arghileh/arguilé, okka, kalyan, gewat suckre, or ghelyoon/ghalyan. Many of these names are of Arab, Indian, Turkish, Uzbek, or Persian origin. Narghile (نارگيله) is from the Persian word nārgil (نارگیل) or "coconut", and in Sanskrit nārikela (नारीकेल) and it was made out of coconut shells.[1] Shisha (شيشة) is from the Persian word shishe (شیشه, literally translated as glass and not bottle). Hashish (حشيش) is an Arabic word for grass, which may have been another way of saying tobacco. Another source states, "In early Arabic texts, the term hashish referred not only to cannabis resin but also to the dried leaves or flower heads and sweetmeats made with them".[2] Hookah itself 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 Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Israel, Bulgaria and Romania, though the initial "n" is often dropped in Arabic. Shisha is more commonly seen in Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. In Iran it is called ghalyoun or ghalyan (قليان) and in Pakistan and India it is referred to as huqqa. The archaic form of this latter name, hookah is most commonly used in English for historical reasons, as it was in India that large numbers of English-speakers first sampled the effects of the water pipe. William Hickey wrote in his Memoirs that shortly after his arrival in Calcutta in 1775:
The most highly-dressed and splendid hookah was prepared for me. I tried it, but did not like it. As after several trials I still found it disagreeable, I with much gravity requested to know whether it was indispensably necessary that I should become a smoker, which was answered with equal gravity, 'Undoubtedly it is, for you might as well be out of the world as out of the fashion. Here everybody uses a hookah, and it is impossible to get on without'.....[I] have frequently heard men declare they would much rather be deprived of their dinner than their hookah.[3]
Culture
Hookahs for sale in Jerusalem at the souk.
Hookahs for sale in Jerusalem at the souk.
Sheesha dealership in Cairo marketplace
Sheesha dealership in Cairo marketplace
Persian woman, in Qajari dress seen here smoking the traditional Qalyan.
Persian woman, in Qajari dress seen here smoking the traditional Qalyan.
[edit] Middle East
[edit] Arab world
In the Arab world, social smoking is done with a single or double hose. When the smoker is finished, either the hose is placed back on the table signifying that it is free, or it is handed from one user to the next, folded back on itself so that the mouthpiece does not point at the person receiving it. Stories tell Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar thought of it as an insult but there are no official facts. Another tradition is that the receiver taps or slaps the giver on the back of the hand while taking it as a sign of respect or friendship.
However in cafés and restaurants it is rare for each smoker not to order an individual hookah (as they are very affordable in the region often ranging from $2 to $10).
Shisha cafés, normally called maqha (Arabic: مقهى, "coffeeshop"), are rather widespread, and are amongst the main social gathering places in the Arab world (similar to the status pubs have in the UK).
[edit] Iran
In Iran, the hookah is known as a gheyloon (Persian: قليان). It is similar in many ways to the Arabic hookah but has its own unique attributes. An example is the top part of the Hookah called 'sar' (Persian: سر=head) where the tobacco is placed and is bigger than the ones we see in Turkey. Also the major part of the hose is flexible and covered with soft silk or cloth while the Turkish make the wooden part as big as the flexible part.
There are mouthpieces called Amjid (امجید) that each person has his own personal one, usually made of wood or metal and decorated with valuable or other stones. Amjids are only used for their fancy look. However, all the Hookah Bars have plastic mouth-pieces.
Use of water pipes in Iran can be traced back to the Qajar period. In those days the hoses were made of sugar cane. Persians had a special tobacco called Khansar (خانسار, presumably name of the origin city). The charcoals would be put on the Khansar without foil. Khansar has less smoke than the normal tobacco.
The hookah was, until recently, served to all ages; Iranian officials have since passed a law forbidding its use by those under 14.[citation needed]
[edit] Turkey
In Turkey, narghile is done on a social basis, usually in one's home with guests or in a cafe with friends. Most cities have narghile cafes where narghile is offered with a non-alcoholic drink. This is mainly for health reasons rather than religious reasons. Often people will smoke nargile after dinner as a replacement for cigarettes. In bigger cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana, restaurants may have dinner & nargile specials which includes meal, beverage (alcoholic/non-alcoholic), Turkish coffee and nargile.
In certain parts of the country people use nargile cafes to watch popular TV shows, national sports games, etc. and smoke nargile to socialize. Once the centre of Istanbul’s social and political life, the narghile, or Turkish water pipe, today is considered by the locals one of life’s great pleasures. In Turkey's capital you can smoke a[hooka] in many places. Here an incomplete still valuable list: Yaniceriler Caddesi, near the Gran Bazar Corlulu Ali Pasa Koca Sinan Pasa Turbesi Rumeli Kahvesi In the south of Sultanahmet is: Yeni Marmara(Cayiroglu Sokak) The OrtakahveIn in Beyoglu area provides a vast range of flavours
[edit] Israel
In Israel, the hookah is prevalent among Middle Eastern Jewish immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Yemen. Hookah use is also common in the Arab home where families will commonly smoke after a large meal or at a family gathering. Many Jewish families have also adopted this custom, although individual usage patterns vary according to culture heritage and custom. Hookahs are becoming increasingly popular within Israel particularly among tourists. Shops selling paraphernalia can be found on most high streets and markets. Most nightclubs also have hookahs and offer an option to hire them whilst inside. The IDF has recently forbidden the use of hookahs by soldiers on duty. Recently, due to an increase in use among youth, a campaign has been launched by The Israel Cancer Association warning against the hazards of hookah smoking.
[edit] United States and Canada
Main article: hookah lounge
In the United States and Canada, many cities, state/provincial and federal jurisdictions have in more recent years moved to ban smoking in public places. Though most jurisdictions, through the purchase of a special permit, allow hookah businesses to remain open to the public, others do not. This has caused many hookah lounges and bars to close their doors to the public. In many cases, hookah businesses have been able to remain in business by replacing their traditional, tobacco-based shisha with tobacco-free, herbal alternatives. In New York City, where there is a strong smoking ban, hookah bars have managed to remain open in Little Egypt, Astoria, Queens, despite complaints from local residents.[4]
There remains an attachment to Shisha bars/coffee shops in cities with large Arab/Middle-eastern populations such as Montreal in Canada.
Hookah bars or cafés are showing up throughout the United States, especially near college campuses in cities with large Arab and Middle-Eastern populations. The use of hookahs is popular among college students in the United States and Canada, and has recently gained popularity among the high-school demographic, as well.
[edit] Europe
In Spain, the use of the hookah has been recently increasing in popularity, and they are usually readily available at tea-oriented coffeehouses, called teterías in Spanish, which often are run by Arab immigrants or have some other sort of affinity with the east. Hookahs are usually sold at prices between €10 and €70, and hookah tobacco and charcoal is easily found in those same coffee houses, or at stores run by eastern immigrants. Immigrants and native Spanish alike enjoy this custom, and it is usually seen as a lighter way of smoking than cigarettes. Buying one's own tobacco and hookah is usually noticeably less expensive than ordering hookahs at a coffee house.
Hookahs are also becoming increasingly popular in Moscow and other Russian cities. Many bars employ a "hookah man" (Rus. кальянщик tr. kal'yanshchik), often of middle-eastern appearance and wearing an approximation of Arab or Turkish costume, to bring the pipes to customers' tables and to prepare and light the tobacco. A single hookah and hose are normally used; interchangeable plastic mouthpieces in sealed wrappings may be provided to each person at the table for hygiene reasons.
Hookahs are popular as well in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. All the youth hookah fashion looks the same way it looks in Russia.
Indian restaurants but are most commonly found in Lebanese restaurants and Egyptian-run "hubbly-bubbly" bars. Concentrations of these hookah establishments are often found in close proximity to University campuses, as on Rusholme's Curry Mile in Manchester or in Oxford, and they cater to a mixture of British and Middle-Eastern clientel amongst students. A ban on public smoking was enacted in Scotland in 2006, and a similar ban has taken effect in England on July 1st 2007. Hookah bars have since been closed, as there is a complete ban of smoking in enclosed public areas; however, some businesses have remained open, functioning as normal cafés.
Hookah smoking has also risen in popularity in Germany, particularly in Berlin and Cologne, where many hookah bars exist due in part to a relatively large Turkish population. Hookahs are also very easy to acquire. During the 2006 World Cup, many booths in the area outside of the Zoologischer Garten Bahnhof specialized in selling the water-pipes and flavored tobacco. In addition, many people create homemade hookahs due to the relative ease of construction and the high cost of a quality pipe. Hooka (locally called Shisha) bars are even commonly found in towns with just 100,000 inhabitants.
In Italy, hookah bars are still not so common, but their number is increasing, as hookah smoking is not involved in laws about smoking in public places
In Sweden, hookah smoking is on the rise. Cheap hookahs and hookah-related products, like tobacco and charcoal, are now available in the many kiosk-like businesses run by immigrants, mostly of middle-eastern origin, found in the larger cities. Hookahs are mostly used by teenagers and immigrants, but the use is slowly becoming more widespread. Hookah bars and similar establishments are still very rare though, in part due to anti-smoking laws.
In the Czech republic, hookah is relatively common in many tearooms (usually cost between 100 and 150 CZK). Hookash are usually sold in specialided orient-shops and tearooms at prices mostly between 500 and 2500 CZK. Local names for hookah are "šíša", "vodnice", "voďár", "vodní dýmka", etc …
Hookah ('vesipiip' in Estonian) has also gained major popularity in Estonia, where it has caused contoversy amongst the troubled parents. Still, you can hardly find any party or (youth) gathering without a hookah.
[edit] Asia
Indian man holding a water pipe (hookah)
Indian man holding a water pipe (hookah)
Restaurant 'Hucka' which offers non-tobacco hookahs
Restaurant 'Hucka' which offers non-tobacco hookahs
In South Asia the hookah is becoming better known, and cafés 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. Tobacco is smoked in hookahs in many villages as per traditional customs. Smoking molasses in a hookah is now becoming popular amongst the youth in India.
India has more Hookah users than any other country in the world. It is a growing trend amongst youngsters and adolescents. There are several chain clubs, Bars and coffee shops (such as Cafe Coffee Day) in India offering a variety of hookah. The average cost of hookah in clubs vary from $2 (Rs. 100) to $200 (Rs. 8000).
The new trends emerging are that of non-tobacco hookahs with herbal flavours. Several modern restaurants are famous for this. The hookah even without tobacco has become a matter of status.
In Pakistan, hookahs have become very popular in the cosmopolitan cities. Many clubs and cafes are offering them and it has become quite popular amongst the youth and students in Pakistan. This form of smoking has become very popular for social gatherings, functions, and events. There are a large number of cafes, restaurants, and chill out places offering a variety of sheesha and hookahs.
Malaysia too has seen an increase in sheesha use and cafes offering sheesha pipes.[5] In the Philippines, the popularity is vastly growing, in the capital's most cosmopolitan city, Makati; various high-end bars and clubs offer hookahs to patrons. In Afganistan, hookah has been popular, especially in Kabul, for some time.
Although hookah use has been common for hundreds of years and enjoyed by people of all ages, it has just begun to become a youth-oriented pastime in Asia in recent times. Hookahs are most popular with college students and teenagers, who may be underage and thus unable to purchase cigarettes.[6]
[edit] South Africa
In South Africa, hookah, colloquially known as a hubbly bubbly, is popular amongst the Cape Malay, Indian population, where it is smoked as a social pastime.[7] But is increasing in popularity with whites, especially the youth. Hookah bars are relatively uncommon, and smoking is normally done at home or in public spaces such as beaches and picnic sites.
[edit] Structure and operation
[edit] Components
A look-through of the hookah's components
A look-through of the hookah's components
Excluding grommets, a hookah is usually made of five components, four of which are essential for its operation
[edit] 1.The bowl
Also known as the head of the hookah, the bowl is a container, usually made out of clay or marble, that holds the tobacco during the smoking session.
[edit] 2.Hose
The hose is a slender tube that allows the smoke to be drawn.
[edit] 3.Body, 4.Gasket, 5.Valve
The body of the hookah is a hollow tube with a gasket at its bottom. The gasket itself has at least one more opening for the hose. The gasket seals the connection of the body of the hookah with the water jar. The gasket may have one more opening with a valve in it for clearing the smoke from the water jar not via the hose.
[edit] 6.Water jar
Placed at the bottom of the hookah, the water jar is a container which the smoke from the tobacco passes through before it reaches the hose. By passing through water, the smoke gains moisture. This makes inhaling the smoke of the hookah easier than a cigarette's. Also the water jar allegedly functions as a filter for the smoke. The level of the water has to be higher than the lowest point of the body's tube in order for the smoke to pass through it. Liquids other than water may be added, such as a strong mixture of alcohol and/or fruit juice.
[edit] 7.The plate
The plate is usually just below the bowl and is used for "dead" coals from previous smoking sessions. It is not vital for the operation of the hookah.
[edit] Grommets
Grommets in a hookah are usually placed between the bowl and the body, the body's gasket and the water jar and between the body and the hose.
[edit] Operation
The jar at the bottom of the hookah is filled with water sufficient to submerge a few centimeters of the body tube, which is sealed tightly to it. Tobacco is placed inside the bowl at the top of the hookah and a burning charcoal is placed on top of the tobacco. Some cultures cover the bowl with perforated tin foil to separate the coal and the tobacco, which minimizes inhalation of coal ash with the smoke. When one inhales via the hose, air is pulled through the coal and into the bowl. The air, hot from the charcoal, burns the tobacco, producing smoke. This smoke passes down through the body tube, which extends into the water in the jar. It bubbles up through the water and fills the top part of the jar, to which the hose is attached. When a smoker inhales from the hose, smoke passes into the lungs, and the change in pressure in the jar pulls more air through the charcoal, continuing the process. The hookah's components must be sealed tightly with grommets, or air which does not flow through the coal will dilute the smoke.
[edit] Style and health
The Caterpillar using a hookah, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Caterpillar using a hookah, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
[edit] Health benefits and risks
Research suggests that a session of sheisha tobacco smoking (tobacco molasses) which lasts 45 minutes delivers 36 times more tar, 15 times more carbon monoxide and 70% more nicotine than a single cigarette.[8] This study has, however, come under criticism for using unrealistically high temperatures for the tobacco (600-650 degrees C) and using arbitrary figures for tar filtration rates.[citation needed] This could possibly have skewed results, as the carcinogenic and toxin levels of smoke increases dramatically with temperature (Wynder 1958). Common practice is to keep temperatures to degrees which do not "char" the Sheisha; that is within a temperature range of 100-150 C. (Chaouachi K: Patologie associate all'uso del narghile). The effects of these lower temperatures on tar are inconclusive, though Chaouachi indicates the tar would be less harmful.
However research has indicated that the use of the sheisha may reduce comparative cancer risks, though such studies are not conclusive (Hoffman[9], Rakower, Salem 1983 and 90, Gupta Dheeraj 2001, Tandon 1995, Lubin 1992, Hazelton 2001, Stirling 1979). The levels of carbon monoxide produced during a sheisha session varies widely depending on the type of coal used. Japanese charcoals are thought to produce lower amounts of carbon monoxide. However there is a notable difference in areas of carbon monoxide absorption, in that while cigarettes have a notable effect on the small respiratory tracts rather, sheisha smoking mostly affects the major airways (Bakir 1991, Kiter). This means a lessened FEV vs FEV1/FVC ratio compared to cigarettes, which is believed to be less harmful for the airways long-term. However, it should not be considered as a "safe" alternative to common cigarette smoking.
Sheisha, unlike cigarette tobacco, does not normally contain harmful additives. Cigarette additives, although approved as food additives, have been shown to create carcinogenic compounds when burned. Cigarette tobacco is known to have around 600 additives, including urea and citronella oil. When these additives are burned, the smoke they create contains around 4000 compounds, many of which have been known to cause cancer. Sheisha tobacco additives include fruit molasses and sometimes honey. Sheisha, depending on the brand, has between .05% and .5% nicotine (yet 0% tar, unlike cigarettes), much more than a cigarette. Nicotine is a chemically addicitive compound, and while it may assist in cancer growth and formation is not itself a carcinogen. Smoking sheisha exposes the lungs to much more nicotine-filled smoke than cigarettes or normal tobacco, however it is not clear whether sheisha has the same negative health impacts as normal cigarette smoking.
A report[10] released in 2005 by WHO (World Health Organisation) claimed to have researched the effects of water-pipe smoking. However this article was strongly criticized for providing false evidence in to the effects of shisha. Many articles were written to prove the evidence wrong.
A popular article by K Chaouachi, a french researcher who has been studying the use of hookah and its effects throughout the world since 1997 was created highlighting the mistakes and errors made by the WHO Tobreg in the advisory note report[11]. He also made a book[12] in 2007 in which he puts together what he has studied about hookahs and its users.
Many article's[13] suggest that there is there is simply not enough research to provide answers to determine the effects of hookah smoking. Research is under way by Fogarty International Center-funded Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies, Egyptian Smoking Prevention Research Institute, Research for International Tobacco Control-funded Tobacco Prevention and Control Research Group at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
