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<br />Hookah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<br />
<br />Hookah
<br />
<br />From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<br />
<br />A hookah (Arabic: :i .~~\ Hindustani: ~ l,.:b) is a multi-
<br />stemmed, often glass-based, water pipe device for smoking; it
<br />originated in India. A hookah operates by water-filtration and
<br />indirect heat. It can be used for smoking many substances,
<br />such as herbal fruits and tobacco. Depending on locality,
<br />hookahs are known as other names, such as a shisha/sheesha,
<br />water pipe, nargeela/nargile/narghile/nargileh/narguile,
<br />argeela/arghileh/arguile, okka, kalyan, gewat suckre,
<br />hubble bubble, or ghelyoon/ghalyan. Many of these names
<br />are of Arab, Indian, Turkish, Uzbek, or Persian origin.
<br />Narghile (~.J\.j) is from the Persian word nargil (~.J\.j) or
<br />"coconut", and in Sanskrit narikela (c1I.fl~('i) and it was
<br />made out of coconut shells.[1] Shish a (:i .~~.~) is from the
<br />Persian word shishe (~, literally translated as glass and not
<br />bottle). Hashish (~) is an Arabic word for grass, which
<br />may have been another way of saying tobacco. Another
<br />source states, "In early Arabic texts, the term hashish referred
<br />not only to cannabis resin but also to the dried leaves or
<br />flower heads and sweetmeats made with them" J2] Hookah
<br />itself may stem from Arabic uqqa, meaning small box, pot, or
<br />jar. Both names refer to the original methods of constructing
<br />the smoke/water chamber part of the hookah.
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<br />Narghile is the name most commonly used in Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus,
<br />Albania, Israel, Bulgaria and Romania, though the initial "n" is often dropped in Arabic. Shisha is more
<br />commonly seen in Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. In Iran it is called
<br />ghalyoun or ghalyan (04l!) and in Pakistan and India it is referred to as huqqa. The archaic form ofthis
<br />latter name, hookah is most commonly used in English for historical reasons, as it was in India that large
<br />numbers of English-speakers first sampled the effects of the water pipe. William Hickey wrote in his
<br />Memoirs that shortly after his arrival in Calcutta in 1775:
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<br />The most highly-dressed and splendid hookah was prepared for me. I tried it, but did not like it. As after
<br />several trials I still found it disagreeable, I with much gravity requested to know whether it was
<br />indispensably necessary that I should become a smoker, which was answered with equal gravity,
<br />'Undoubtedly it is, for you might as well be out of the world as out of the fashion. Here everybody uses
<br />a hookah, and it is impossible to get on without'.....(I] have frequently heard men declare they would
<br />much rather be deprived of their dinner than their hookahPl
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<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah
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<br />6/4/2007
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