Mari Blog

In the Indian city of Fatehpur Sikri, Roman Catholic missionaries of the Society of Jesus arriving from the southern part of the country introduced tobacco to the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great. Louis Rousselet writes that the physician of Akbar, Hakim Aboul Futteh Ghilani, then invented the hookah in India. However, a quatrain of Ahlī Shirazi (d. 1535), a Persian poet, refers to the use of the ḡalyān, thus dating its use at least as early as the time of the Shah Ṭahmāsp. It seems, therefore, that Abu’l-Fath Gilani should be credited with the introduction of the ḡalyān, already in use in Persia, into India. There is, however, no evidence of the existence of the water pipe until the 1560s. Moreover, tobacco is believed to have arrived in India in the 17th century, until then cannabis was smoked in India, so that suggests another substance was probably smoked in Ahlī Shirazi's quatrain, perhaps through some other method...

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Bowl

Also known as the head of the hookah, the bowl is a container, usually made out of clay, marble, or glass that holds the coal and tobacco during the smoking session. The bowl is loaded with tobacco then covered by a screen or perforated aluminum foil. Lit coals are then placed on top, which allows the tobacco to heat to the proper temperature. Hookah bowls can often be made out of various fruits, such as by cutting a pineapple in half. The fruit is hollowed out and perforated in order to achieve the same shape and system a clay bowl has, then it is loaded and used in the same manner. Bowls have evolved in recent years to incorporate new designs that keep juices in the tobacco from running down the stem. The Tangiers Phunnel Bowl and Sahara Smoke Vortex Bowl are two examples of such bowls.

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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. Deeper water will only increase the inhalation force needed to use it. Tobacco or tobacco-free molasses are placed inside the bowl at the top of the hookah. Often the bowl is covered with perforated tin foil or a metal screen and coal placed on top. The foil or screen separates the coal and the tobacco, with the foil and the tobacco reaching maximum temperatures of 450 and 130 degrees Celsius respectively...

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New Series 'The Good, the Bad And the Ugly'

You won't be able to forget this taste.

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New blog post coming soon.

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