How The Smoke Has Travelled

1605 AD Emperor Akbar and his court are presented with tobacco and jewel-encrusted pipes by Adil Shah of Bijapur; they become immediately popular

1617 AD Emperor Jahangir, though an opium smoker himself, bans smoking of tobacco—the first anti-tobacco law in Indian history

1717 AD The first recorded mention of beedis

1906 AD Imperial Tobacco Company of India (ITC) builds its first factory at Monghyr, Bihar

1912 AD ITC launches the first Indian brand, 'Scissors'.

1948 AD Sardar Bhopinder Singh Mann, a member of the Constituent Assembly, proposes adding tobacco to the list of substances for the Indian state to eliminate, under Article 47 of the Constitution. Other members reject his motion.

1975 AD Health warnings appear on cigarette packets

1990 AD Ban on smoking in public buildings and air-conditioned public transport

1999 AD Railway ministry bans the sale of cigarettes in stations.

1999 AD Kerala High Court rules that smoking in public places violates the constitutional right to life

2000 AD Ban on advertising tobacco products on cable television

2001 AD The Tamil Nadu government bans chewing tobacco, supari and gutkha

2004 AD Ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces, on selling to minors or near educational institutions, and on any advertising of tobacco products

2005 AD Health ministry bans the depiction of tobacco products in films

2005 AD Chain-smoker Shahrukh Khan commits to quit the habit and fails. Rajnikanth quits and takes up chewing gum.