The
nargile was introduced to Turkey from either India or Persia
and provided centuries of enjoyment for Turkish smokers.
In Ottoman Istanbul the water pipe or hubble-bubble pipe
became an objet d'art, with bottles of crystal, coloured
glass or even silver, finials in the form of silver flowers
or fruits, gilded pipe bowls, and amber mouthpieces. They
were a decorative appurtenance of coffee houses and wealthy
houses and wealthy houses alike.
Until
relatively recently all coffee houses in Istanbul had a
special corner reserved for nargile smokers, and if by accident
you might sit among them the disgruntled glances soon obliged
you to move elsewhere. Nargile smokers used to be the earliest
and most coveted customers at Istanbul's coffee houses.
At the first light, rubbing their eyes, they would sit upon
the couch or sedir before the newly lit stove waiting for
their morning nargile before setting out to work.
Like
everything else from the past the nargile has been largely
forgotten. However, although it is no longer the national
pastime it once was, it is kept alive in a few coffee houses
in such districts of Istanbul as Beyazit, Aksaray, Topkapi,
Unkapani, Kasimpasa, Besiktas and Kadiköy by old and
new adherents of this traditional pipe. An advanced grade
nargile smoker may spend up to three hours over the ceremony.
Most
such smokers have their own personal nargile at the coffee
house. This is kept away from sight and used by no one else
even if the smoker does not come for months. Still there
are some who carry their own silver mouthpiece with them
in their waistcoat pocket just in case someone else might
have used it meanwhile and defiled the amber mouthpiece
with their lips. The dedicated smoker brings his own piece
of the finest tömbeki tobacco for the one trusted waiter
who knows exactly how much to dampen and place on the lüle,
and how large a piece of live coal to set on top of it.
The most famous coffee houses have today disappeared, but
their memory remains, such as Pirinçci in Kuledibi,
Güllü Agop Kiraathanesi in Gedikpasa, Valide Kiraathanesi
in Eminönü, Ligor Kiraathanesi under the Galata
Bridge and Erzurum Çayevi. Emirgan Çinaralti
still survives but the nargile ceremonial has gone, along
with its peaceful bubbling sound and wavering smoke. One
place where nargile smoking has not been forgotten is Erenler
Nargile situated in Çorlulu Ali Pasa Medrese at Çemberlitas
between the Blue Mosque and the Covered Bazaar.
Of
the 150 or so regular smokers, 30 have their own nargile.
At all times of day curious tourists can be seen here watching
the smokers puff away at their pipes. A word of advice if
you happen to be in such an establishment: Lighting your
cigarette from the bowl of someone's nargile is an unforgiveable
sin, and will certainly infuriate the smoker. Erenler Nargile's
proprietor Sükrü Usta of Sivas, who has been in
this business for 20 years, is optimistic about the future
of nargile smoking. He says that many new customers try
out the nargile every day, and that some become regulars.
He even serves that breed of early morning smokers which
I had assumed to be extinct.
›Nargile:
A Puff on History
›Inhale
the Pleasure of an Unhurried Ottoman Past
›Massell
(Molasses)
›Hookahs
in Western Painting
