A ho**ah (hukkā or huqqah) also known as a waterpipe, narghile, or Qalyān, is a single or multi-stemmed instrument for smoking flavored to***co called Mu‘assel in which the smoke is passed through a water basin (often glass based) before inhalation. The word ho**ah is a derivative of "huqqa", which is what the Indians used to call it. According to author Cyril Elgood (pp. 41, 110), who does not mention his source, it was Abul-Fath Gilani (d. 1588), a Persian physician at the Indian court of the Mughal emperor Akbar, who “first passed the smoke of to***co through a small bowl of water to purify and cool the smoke and thus invented the hubble-bubble or ho**ah.” Nevertheless, a quatrain of Ahli Shirazi (d. 1535) refers to the use of the ḡalyān in Safavid Iran. Smoking the ho**ah has gained popularity outside of its native region, in India, Pakistan and the Middle East, and is gaining popularity in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and South Africa. Names and etymology
Nargile (but sometimes pronounced Argileh or Argilee) is the name most commonly used in Turkey, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Israel. Nargile derives from the Persianegypt word nārghile, meaning coconut, which in turn is from the Sanskrit word nārikela, suggesting that early ho**ahs were hewn from coconut shells.
