Naswar

Naswār (Pashto: نسوار, Cyrillic script: насва́р, Hindi: नसवार), also called nās (ناس; на́с), nāsor (ناسور; насур) or nasvay (نسوای; насвай), is a moist, powdered tobacco dip consumed mostly in Afghanistan, and surrounding countries, including Pakistan, India and neighboring Central Asian republics.

Swabi, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Charsadda, Mohmand and Herat are renowned for their production of some of the highest quality Naswar.

It has a very pungent and powerful smell, resembling that of a fresh bale of coastal hay,[citation needed] and has a subtle flavor as it mixes with the saliva.

It is made by pouring water into a cement-lined cavity, to which slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and air-cured, sun-dried, powdered tobacco is added.

[citation needed] Currently, the countries of the region freely sell naswar in the markets, usually on trays with cigarettes and sunflower seeds.

The only exception is Turkmenistan, where in 2008 President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed a decree banning the production, sale, use, and import of naswar.

[12] In November 2006, an editorial in the newspaper Daily Times in Pakistan caused some controversy over its allegedly biased representations of Pashtun predilection for naswar.

[15] On 23 February 2013, the Russian State Duma signed a federal law (N 15-ФЗ) which banned both wholesale and retail naswar from 1 June 2013 onward in Russia.

[40] Naswar was introduced into Western Europe by a Spanish monk named Ramon Pane after Columbus' second voyage to the Americas during 1493-1496.

[41] In 1561, Jean Nicot, the French ambassador in Lisbon, Portugal, sent naswar to Catherine de' Medici to treat her son's persistent migraine.