The word "tobacco", according to one version, comes from "Tobago" - the name of the island in the Atlantic Ocean. Others claim that the first smokers in the world were residents of Cuba. Comrades Christopher Columbus and Fernando Cortés, who smoked people, first saw them on the island of San Salvador on October 12, 1492.
American writer Washington Irving describes the scene of acquaintance of Europeans with tobacco (translated into Russian in 1836):"On the way back, they (the Spaniards. - I.B.) saw for the first time the use of the plant, from which later inventive whim of a man-made a universal luxury, despite the resistance to feelings. Several wild walked around with burning heads and some dry grass in their hands; this grass (so in the text. - I.B.} they rolled into scrolls or tubes, then one end lit up, and the other end was taken in a mouth and began to draw in and exhale, alternately, smoke. The natives called these scrolls tobacco, the name given to the plant from which it is prepared ".
According to one Italian merchant who took part in the expedition of Columbus, the great navigator was extremely surprised to see how the natives release smoke; before that, the Spaniards believed that the smoke from the nostrils can only let the devils. The victim of this belief was one of the members of the Columbus crew - Rodrigo de Jerez. When Rodrigo returned to his hometown of Ayamonte, some of his compatriots saw smoke coming out of the traveler's nose and immediately decided that the sailor was possessed by the devil! The poor man was imprisoned for three years, which is exactly how long his tormentors thought he needed to drive out the devil. There was another man from the team of Columbus, who took the risk of smoking - Luis de Torres, but it is unknown whether he suffered for his curiosity. But it is well known that in the three months that Columbus' ships were in the West Indies, both Spaniards had time to get addicted to smoking.
Columbus's contemporary and his compatriot Gonzalo Oviedo, who lived in the New World for some time, was almost the first European to witness how the inhabitants of one of the islands, "red as copper, naked people" * wrap some grass in a leaf maze. Then one end of the bundle is shoved into their mouths, and the other end is set on fire, after which they start releasing smoke from their mouths and nose. They called it "tobacco", which is another version of the origin of the word "tobacco". Some, however, insist that the origin of the word we are interested in owes its origin to the name of the province on the island of Haiti in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo - Tabaco (or Tobago).
Oviedo was the first to bring the seeds of a tobacco plant to Europe, to his homeland, Spain. According to other sources, the Spanish monk Romano Pano, who accompanied Columbus on his second journey to the edge of the world to convert the Indians to Christianity, was the first to bring the tobacco plant (or its seeds) to Europe in 1496 (1493-1496). Jacob Pano allegedly called this plant "tobacco" and suggested its use as a remedy for wounds. Pano even wrote a book "On the customs and customs of the inhabitants of America," in which he described tobacco, calling it, after the Indians, "Koba.
In general, the origin of the word "tobacco" is wrapped in such thick clouds of tobacco smoke that it is impossible to disperse them, especially after so many centuries. One thing is clear - the word comes from America.
Meanwhile, at first, tobacco behaved peacefully in the Old World: it was grown in pots, which were placed on the window sill to admire the unusual flowers, not only household members, but also passers-by. Then it began to be used as a remedy for various diseases: headache, toothache, colic, rheumatism, cough, and cuts. In Europe, the overseas plant came in a troubled time, when doctors exhausted their powers in search of a panacea for all diseases and were forced to turn their eyes to the New World, from where it is very useful and appeared - not similar to any of those that grow in Europe. It was immediately called "holy grass" and offered as a cure for many ailments.
Meanwhile, Europeans were making discoveries in the New World. In 1512, the Portuguese de Leon discovered Florida and was amazed to find that the Indians there were entirely devoted to smoking tobacco. And in 1521, the Spaniards, led by Conquistador Hernán Cortés, conquered Mexico and became convinced of the widespread use of tobacco in the country. It was not only smoked there with reeds or specially hollowed out sticks, but also mixed with various plants and fragrant herbs.
In the same 16th century, tobacco was brought to Portugal, but not as an ornamental plant, but as a healing agent. In 1550, it was raised in the Royal Garden of Lisbon. From Portugal in 1559 or 1560, the tobacco was delivered to France by the French ambassador to the Portuguese court, Jean Nico de Vilmain, and was immediately named "Herbie an l'ambassadeur" ("ambassador's grass"). Nico gave some tobacco to Queen Catherine de Medici, and this imported plant was called "herbe reginae", "herbe Catharinae" ("royal grass", "grass of Catherine").