السلام عليكم  Assalamu Alaykum, Peace be upon you....   

Where and when it all began?

Hooka,  Argyle, Shishah, Narjileh and Gouzah are all names for the same apparatus; Water Pipe or as the public folklore refers to it, Hubble Bubble.

According to several articles off the internet, particularly a reprint from the Turkish Daily News 3/3/97, claim that the wonder apparatus originated in India and was made from a Coconut Shell.  My personal opinion is that this is possibly why it is also called Gouzah which literally means Nut in Arabic.

Of course, the article claims that the Turks refined the device to its current status.  The contradiction found in the same article clarifies that the best tobacco to use with Hooka is the Persian Variety.  As an Arab with some Turkish-Ottoman running through my vein, I would have to relinquish this discovery to the Persian and say that this is probably the most likely origin of the device.  The Persian and the Ottoman were cousins tribesmen before they settled down and built two famous dynasties, but they were not on the best of terms, (so the rivalry seem to have reached the Hooka), but that's another story.  Undoubtedly though, the Mediterranean basin, (both Arab, Greek and European), came to know the apparatus through the Ottoman influence, as the Persians never had influence over that territory.

Unlike the folklore myths popular in the west, the tobacco used in Hooka is not of the hallucinating variety.  That would actually be unthinkable in the religious Middle-east, in both Muslim and Christian households.   Hookas are smoked at homes when guests arrive, at weekends as fathers and mothers relax with their neighbors, at coffee shops and at the old Bazaar where traditional shop masters smoke their Hooka while keeping an eye on their employee as they mind the store and the customers.

The tobacco is milder then Cigars and is closely similar to that of a pipe.  It is aromatic and smokers often used a variety of enhancement to smooth the flavor or to add some flavor to the regular tobacco.  Some of these home made improvements included adding dried fruits, dried rose buds, dried mints.  Other improvements where also introduced to the water through flavoring and the addition of ICE to cool the smoke as it goes through the water and trapping some of the tar and particles.

Beside the soothing bubbling sound that's generated by the device as it is used, the bubbling was also used to add entertainments to the spectators by adding floating little colorful objects in the water. 

As a child I used to get into a trance watching those beads and little colorful wooden blocks jump in the water.  I eventually made a reputation for my self by tipping enough Hookas as I tried to reach into these objects while the adults where smoking.  I still get reminded with those days each time my senior family members light up a Shishah they hasten to tell me that they kept the toys out so I do not tip their hookah.

Today, all those home made enhancements can be easily purchased from off the shelf.  The flavors are already embedded into the tobacco and beside the natural flavors, a connoisseur can even get cola flavored Moassel to mix with their tobacco and enjoy a Cola and a Smoke with a Smile.  Other mechanical improvements such as a wet cloth ribbon wrapped around the hose and the ceramic head to prevent the air from leaking are now replaced with silicon and rubber grommets that do not require to be moisturized often.

Enjoy your Hooka purchase and treat it carefully. Do not smoke it while driving, and be careful from mischievous kids and pets that may pounce on it while you are not paying attention.  Like other smoking product, the smoldering charcoal can burn objects if it came in contacts with them.  Use enough of it to keep the tobacco burning and do not leave it unattended while still burning.

مع السلامه  Peace & Safety be with you