Tobacco

In 1510, Francisco Hernandez de Toledo brought tobacco seeds to Spain. Fifty years later, it was introduced to France by the diplomat and doctor, Jean nicot, to whom the plant owes its generic name (Nicotiana). Jean Nico cured the famous migraine of Catherine de ' Medici, Queen of France.

Another famous fan of tobacco was the head of the Maltese Order, who popularized it among his monks. The adherence to tobacco of the Medici Queen and the Maltese made tobacco extremely popular in Paris, and therefore Europeans began to actively use the plant that Jean Nico brought from Portugal. This fact turned the head of the order of Malta into a famous historical figure.

Tobacco, known at the time, under that name, were known as Nicotine, is named in honor of Nico. Later, this name remained only for the active ingredient of the plant, and the scientific name of the plant comes from the name of Jean Nico.

In 1585, the famous naval officer and privateer, sir Francis Drake, brought it to England; the English Explorer and poet sir Walter Raleigh introduced the habit of using Smoking tobacco for pipes to The Elizabethan court. The new product quickly spread throughout Europe and Russia, and in the 17th century it reached China, Japan, and the West coast of Africa.

Spain monopolized the tobacco trade, for which in 1634 it established the exclusive right to sell this product to Castile and Leon, a regime that in 1707 was extended to all the territories of the crown, which was accompanied by a ban on growing the plant on the Peninsula to facilitate customs control.

The spread of the ban on the production and sale of tobacco in Cuba, where most of the plant was produced, caused numerous revolts, and in 1735 Spain ceded the exploitation of tobacco plantations To the company of Havana. English-speaking colonial America became the world's leading tobacco producer; cultivation began in the settlement of Jamestown, where as early as 1615 the plant grew in gardens, fields, and even on the streets; in a short time, tobacco became the main agricultural product and the main means of generating income for the colony.

In 1776, tobacco spread to North Carolina and reached Western Missouri.

In 1864, an Ohio farmer accidentally obtained a chlorophyll-deficient strain that was named white Burley, and eventually became a major ingredient in the American tobacco industry, especially after the invention of the cigarette machine in 1881.

Tobacco has long been considered a medicinal plant. In many pharmaceutical books, it occupied the first page.

The medicinal use of tobacco was as follows: leaves applied to the forehead to relieve headaches, a decoction of the root as an antipyretic, also important were its properties of anthelmintic and anti-dysmenorrheic .

It was used as an anti-rheumatic agent. With the help of tobacco, baldness was treated, it was used in case of intoxication, against inflammation.

Numerous myths and legends related to smoke and tobacco, typical of pre-Columbian cultures, have come to us as part of traditions still ingrained in many modern societies. For example, indigenous peoples who live on the banks of the lower Susio river in Colombia, near the isthmus of Panama, believe that there was a legendary country Dubeida, where there was a temple in the center of which stood an idol made of pure gold, representing the goddess of Storms. This legendary place was a cold land covered with snow and ice, until a shaman or sorcerer blew a cloud of tobacco smoke on it, turning it into a warm and full of life land. In turn, the legend of the Varao Indians from Venezuela connects tobacco with the origin of the world. When the " rising bird "(the sun) first rose into the sky, it thought of a house between earth and sky, round and white as a cloud of smoke. One thought was enough to make the image a reality. Then, the "bird of dawn" creates four bahans, which make up the four elements of smoke that give tobacco its character (bahana is the name by which tobacco is known in the region).

The four elements of smoke are the "black bee", which itches violently when the smoker takes the first puff, the" red bee", the" yellow bee", and the" blue honey fly", whose spirits pierce the bodies and give them their power.

The first famous cigars were produced in Seville and Cuba. Cuba, with its fertile land, has become the world's tobacco capital. Pinar del Rio is still the cradle of Cuban tobacco and the famous "habanos". Cuba has many tobacco factories.