Who Invented Bongs

 While bong does not technically refer to the device used for smoking cannabis in general, the drugs association has been formed by the word itself (partly as a pun on Sanskrit bhangahhemp). Cannabis is commonly associated with bongs, which are also often used to smoke tobacco. In fact, the word bong comes from the Thai word bang, describing the cylindrical tube of bamboo or pipe that is traditionally used to smoke. 

A bong--also known as a bubbler or a water pipe--has a chamber, usually partly filled with water, with a stem (where you place your cannabis) and a tube, or mouthpiece, from which to draw the smoke. A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtering device typically used to smoke cannabis, tobacco, or other botanical substances. 

The earliest recorded instance of bongs or water pipes being used for cannabis in history is during the Qing dynasty, with the Dowager Empress Cixi (c.1861 AD), who was buried with her three water pipes. The Ming Chinese Dynasty used water pipes in the 16th century, notably to smoke tobacco, and they were discovered at about the same time; the story goes that Empress Dowager Cixi loved bongs so much, that she was buried with at least three of her collection. 

It was only during the 16th century that water pipes and hookahs were given the name buang, the Thai word describing a bamboo pipe fashioned in Thailand to smoke tobacco and herbs. African water pipes, which are resembling what we would call a modern-day bong, were used as early as the 14th century. Tobacco has been the most common plant to smoke through history, and the earliest pipes that included water were used to snort tobacco. 

Before Natives of ancient Asia decided to put water into a bong, humans used big pipes for smokin pot on a fairly regular basis. The true origins of the bong, or water pipe, are ancient, and over time, this essential tool has been used by a variety of different cultures. These water pipes went far back, starting with the twin gold bongs to the glass bongs of Bob Snodgrass time. 

Hookahs and a few crude bongs made from a mixture of ceramic and glue existed before these pipes, but it was the first water pipe made of a single melted chunk of glass. A glass water pipe involves a removable bowl and a downstem, a single piece of glass which pushes clouds of pot smoke across water into the bongs main chamber. 

Since a water pipe used water filtration, like the bong today, the assumption is always that a bong was developed out of the water pipe. The alternative theory, that the tobacco pipe was adapted for cannabis, by straightening and filtered it with water, is also incorrect, because cannabis predates tobacco in Africa. 

Hundreds of old bongs made from gold were used for smoking cannabis as well as opium, most probably introduced in tribal ceremonies of one sort or another. These bongs were part of a hoard weighing seven pounds of gold, thought to have been part of burial mounds for certain tribal leaders, the remains of cannabis and opium found within confirmed written accounts by ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who claimed the Scythians used the drugs, perhaps as a ritual to embolden them before they went off to war. 

The first bongs, these crude smoking devices were made using lit charcoal placed into bottles which were buried in the soil, with the cannabis placed over the heated charcoal. The earliest bongs probably evolved out of hand-held wood and clay kilns: small, carved or formed containers which could be filled with cannabis, and then heated rocks or pebbles placed on top, with smoke and vapor being drawn. Pipes and bongs evolved from simple wooden pieces into the modern glass bong, which has elaborate percolating systems and many attachments for use.