Depending on locality, hookahs or shishas may be referred to by many names: Arabic language use it as Shisha (شيشة) or Nargeela (نرجيلة) orArgeela (أركيلة\أرجيلة) and they use it throughout the whole of the Arab World; Narguileh (but sometimes pronounced Argilah) is the name most commonly used in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.[citation needed] Narghile derives from thePersian word nārghile, meaning coconut.
In Albania, Bosnia, Croatia the hookah is called “Lula” or “Lulava” in Romani, meaning “pipe,” the word “shishe” refers to the actual bottle piece.[citation needed]
In Serbia, Srpska Republika od Bosna i Hercegovina, and in much of the eastern and southern former Yugoslavia, “Nargile” (Наргиле) or “Nagile” (Нагиле) is used to refer to the pipe. “šiša” (шиша) usually refers to the nicotine and tar free tobacco that is smoked in it. The pipes there often have one or two mouth pieces. They are usually shared between two people. The flavored tobacco is placed above the water and covered by pierced foil with hot coals placed on top, the smoke is drawn through cold water to cool and filter it.
Shisha (شيشة), from the Persian word shīshe (شیشه), meaning glass, is the common term for the hookah in Egypt and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf (including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, and Saudi Arabia), and in Morocco, Tunisia, Somalia and Yemen. This is also common in Spain, where hookah is also referred to as “cachimba”.[citation needed]
In Iran, hookah is called غلیون “Ghalyoon”. In Uzbekistan, hookah is called “Chillim”. In India and Pakistan the name most similar to the Englishhookah is used: huqqa (हुक़्क़ा /حقّہ).[citation needed]
The commonness of the Indian word “hookah” in English is a result of the British Raj, the British dominion of India (1858–1947), when large numbers of expatriate Britons first sampled the water-pipe.William Hickey, shortly after arriving in Kolkata, India, in 1775, wrote in his Memoirs:
| “ | 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.[8] |
