The first account of tobacco comes from Columbus's envoys on the island of Guanahani, later renamed San Salvador, who reported seeing some natives holding a small piece or roll of grass from which they "drank" the smoke. The burnt herb was called 'Cohiba' (a term that today identifies a famous brand of Cuban cigars) and the firebrand 'Tabaco'.
John Vanderlyn (1775-1852) oil on canvas, landing on the island of Guanahani by Christopher Columbus on 12 October 1492
Then the part was taken for the whole and the latter voice prevailed. Others think that the name comes from the province of San Domingo, called "Tabaco", where this solanaceous plant (Nicotiana tabacum) was first found in 1496, and whose dried leaves are still smoked, chopped or powdered for sniffing. Legend has it that Rodrido de Jerez, a sailor who was part of Columbus' expedition, was the one who contributed to the spread of tobacco smoking. It was precisely because of this habit that he spent many years in prison in Cuba; the reason, it is said, was because he was 'believed to be possessed by the devil' as a result of the clouds of smoke that came out of his mouth and nose. We know for certain that tobacco was later imported from Spain and Portugal to France via Giovanni Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal, where Catherine de Medici, wife of Henry II, so appreciated the qualities of the new product that she contributed greatly to its spread. In Italy, tobacco was imported into Tuscany in the second half of the 16th century and from there it spread to the rest of the peninsula. At first, thanks to the fact that tobacco produces pink bell-shaped flowers, the plant was only exploited for its botanical qualities and therefore as a garden embellishment. At that time it was not referred to as tobacco but as 'queen's herb' (in honour of Catherine II), 'Tornabuoni herb' (ambassador of the Duke of Florence Cosimo I to the French court who sent seeds to Tuscany), 'grand prior's herb' (Catherine II's son), 'Santa Croce herb' (from the Cardinal Santa Croce nuncio to Portugal who sent seeds to Rome), 'Nicoziana' (from the French ambassador Nicot). Eventually the term 'tobacco' prevailed. esco bars
The custom of 'smoking' certainly did not begin with the discovery of tobacco by the Old World. The Maya are the first population for whom we have reliable information on their smoking habits. In the Palenque temple in Yucatan there is an engraving of a Mayan priest smoking (6th-7th century). The indigenous peoples of pre-Columbian America certainly consumed tobacco, which was used in many ways: chewed, snorted, drunk as an infusion, and of course smoked. For the Atzecchi, the sacredness of tobacco derived from the fact that it was considered to be the body of the goddess Cihuacohatl, a belief that was later adopted by Amerindian and redskin shamans, who continued to use the plant mixed with other substances to achieve trances or hallucinations. When they smoked it, they used thin wooden twigs that were hollow inside, or mud tubes that were filled with ground herb. When they decided to snort it, the leaves were crushed to a powder. Even today, shamans in the Warao region of Venezuela use a mixture composed mostly of tobacco to achieve trance states during sacred rituals. More information on the use of tobacco in ancient times can be found on this website.