Editing Hookah (section)

===South Asia===

====India====
{{multiple image|total_width=300
| image1 = Big hookah.jpg|caption1=The intricate work on a Malabar hookah.
| image2 = Gaddi village men with hookah, on mountain path, 1980.jpg|caption2=[[Gaddi people|Gaddi]] village men with hookah, on mountain path near [[Dharamshala]], India.
}}
The concept of hookah is thought to have originated in [[medieval India]].<ref name= "RousseletLouis"/><ref name=Wealth/> Once the province of the wealthy, it was tremendously popular especially during [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] rule. The hookah has since become less popular; however, it is once again garnering the attention of the masses, and cafés and restaurants that offer it as a consumable are popular. The use of hookahs from ancient times in India was not only a custom, but a matter of prestige. Rich and landed classes would smoke hookahs.

Tobacco is smoked in hookahs in many villages as per traditional customs.  Smoking tobacco-molasses is now becoming popular among the youth in India. There are several chain clubs, bars and coffee shops in India offering a wider variety of {{transliteration|ar|[[mu‘assel]]s}}, including non-tobacco versions. In 2011, hookah was banned in [[Bangalore]]. However, it can be bought or rented for personal usage or organized parties.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-07/bangalore/29628694_1_hookah-bars-shisha-joints | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511190209/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-07/bangalore/29628694_1_hookah-bars-shisha-joints | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 May 2013 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Business at hookah-less cafes go up in smoke | date=7 June 2011}}</ref>

[[Koyilandy]], a small fishing town on the west coast of India, once made and exported hookahs extensively. These are known as [[Koyilandy#Koyilandy hookahs|Malabar Hookhas or Koyilandy Hookahs]]. Today these intricate hookahs are difficult to find outside Koyilandy and are becoming difficult even to find in Koyilandy itself.

As hookah resurges in India, there have been numerous raids and bans recently on hookah smoking, especially in [[Gujarat]].<ref name="Indian Express">{{cite news|url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-Ban-on-public-smoking-up-in-smoke-in-Gujarat-/465845/|title = Hookah|work = The Indian Express|access-date = 2008-06-08|archive-date = 8 July 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090708141859/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-Ban-on-public-smoking-up-in-smoke-in-Gujarat-/465845/|url-status = live}}</ref>

====Pakistan====
Although it has been traditionally prevalent in rural areas for generations,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Full text &#124; Hookah smoking and cancer: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in exclusive/ever hookah smokers |journal=Harm Reduction Journal |volume=5 |pages=19 |doi=10.1186/1477-7517-5-19 |pmid=18501010 |pmc=2438352 |year=2008 |last1=Sajid |first1=Khan |last2=Chaouachi |first2=Kamal |last3=Mahmood |first3=Rubaida |doi-access=free }}</ref> smoking hookahs has become very popular in the cosmopolitan cities of Pakistan. One can see many cafés in Pakistan offering hookah smoking to its guests. Many households even have hookahs for smoking or decoration purposes.

In Punjab, Pakhtunkhwa, and in northern Balochistan, the topmost part on which coals are placed is called ''chillum''.

In big cities like Karachi and Lahore, cafes and restaurants offered Hookah and charged per hour. In 2013, it was banned by the Pakistan Supreme court. The cafe owners started offering shisha to minors, which was the major reason for the ban.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheesha ban smoked|url=http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/07/08/city/islamabad/sheesha-ban-smoked/|access-date=7 March 2015|work=[[The Pakistan Today]]|date=8 July 2013}}</ref>

====Bangladesh====
{{multiple image|total_width=300
| image1 = I'tisam-ud-Din.png|caption1=[[I'tisam-ud-Din]], a [[Bengali Muslim]] from the 18th century, smoking hukka.
| image2 = Bamboo Hookah at khagrachori 03.jpg|caption2=[[Garo people|Garo]] woman smoking a traditional bamboo hookah.
}}

The hookah ({{langx|bn|হুক্কা|hukka}}) has been a traditional smoking instrument in [[Bangladesh]], particularly among the old [[Bengali Muslim]] [[zamindar]] gentry.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kaneta Choudhury|last2=S.M.A. Hanifi|last3=Abbas Bhuiya|last4=Shehrin Shaila Mahmood|title=Sociodemographic Characteristics of Tobacco Consumers in a Rural Area of Bangladesh|journal=Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition|date=December 2007|volume=25|issue=4|pages=456–464|pmc=2754020|pmid=18402189}}</ref> However, flavoured shisha was introduced in the early 2000s. Hookah lounges spread quite quickly between 2008 and 2011 in urban areas and became popular among young people as well as middle-aged people as a relaxation method. There have been allegations of a government crack-down on hookah bars to prevent illicit drug usage.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ahmed Shatil Alam|title=Killer in disguise|url=http://newagebd.net/84643/killer-in-disguise/#sthash.LnBdhDzn.dpbs|access-date=7 March 2015|work=[[The New Age]]|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104114/http://newagebd.net/84643/killer-in-disguise/#sthash.LnBdhDzn.dpbs|url-status=live}}</ref> The hookah is also an [[electoral symbol]] for a candidate used first in the [[1973 Bangladeshi general election]].<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Embassy of Bangladesh|date=26 January 1973|volume=3|issue=2|title=Bangladesh: a fortnightly news bulletin|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWEwAQAAIAAJ&q=hookah&pg=PA8-IA134|page=4|chapter=Elections symbols prescribed}}</ref> In the biography of [[Mountstuart Elphinstone]], it is mentioned that [[James Achilles Kirkpatrick]] had a ''hookah-bardar'' (hookah servant/preparer) during his time in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Kirkpatrick's hookah servant is said to have robbed and cheated Kirkpatrick, making his way to England and stylising himself as the ''Prince of Sylhet''. The man was waited upon by the [[Prime Minister of Great Britain]] [[William Pitt the Younger]], and then dined with the [[Duke of York]] before presenting himself in front of [[George III]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Life of the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone|first=Thomas Edward|last=Colebrooke|pages=34–35|year=1884|author-link=Sir Edward Colebrooke, 4th Baronet|chapter=First Start in Diplomacy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108097222|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tSoMEJ-_Nx0C&q=hookah&pg=PA34|access-date=26 October 2020|archive-date=1 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601132443/https://books.google.com/books?id=tSoMEJ-_Nx0C&q=hookah&pg=PA34#v=snippet&q=hookah&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Nepal====
{{multiple image|total_width=300
| image1 = Hukkah nepal.jpg|caption1=A hookah at a restaurant in Nepal.
| image2 = Tobacco smoking4.jpg|caption2=A man smoking tobacco in hookah (or ''hukka'') in [[Darchula]], [[Nepal]].
}}
''Hookahs'' (हुक़्क़ा), especially wooden ones, are popular in [[Nepal]]. Use of hookahs has been usually considered to symbolize an elite family status in Nepali history.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iorHBAAAQBAJ&q=hookah+elite+family+status+nepal&pg=PA360|title=North-East India: Land, People and Economy|last1=Dikshit|first1=K. R.|last2=Dikshit|first2=Jutta K.|date=2013-10-21|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789400770553|access-date=26 October 2020|archive-date=1 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601132444/https://books.google.com/books?id=iorHBAAAQBAJ&q=hookah+elite+family+status+nepal&pg=PA360#v=snippet&q=hookah%20elite%20family%20status%20nepal&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> 
[[File:Huble Buble sign Kathmandu. 1993.jpg|thumb|Huble Buble sign in Kathmandu. 1993]]
Nowadays, the cities of Kathmandu, Pokhara and Dharan have special hookah bars. Although hookahs have started becoming popular among younger people and tourists, the overall number of hookah smokers is likely dwindling owing to the widespread availability of cheaper cigarettes.<ref>{{cite web|last=Nepal |first=ECS |title=Smoke on The Water: Hubby-bubbly .Hookah |url=http://www.ecs.com.np/feature_detail.php?f_id=176 |publisher=ECS Nepal |access-date=28 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724190114/http://www.ecs.com.np/feature_detail.php?f_id=176 |archive-date=24 July 2011}}</ref>