It is hard to say when smoking started. It is certain that the Mayas of Central America grew tobacco and smoked it for religious ceremonies. All forms of smoking came to Europe thanks to the discoveries of Christopher Columbus.
In 1492 Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the „New World”. Among the many new things he noticed were the fused and rolled aromatic leaves that were lit and smoked by the inhabitants of the islands. Mayan civilisation began to decline with the penetration of the Spanish into the mainland. The natives dispersed into the continent taking the science of growing tobacco and the habit of smoking with them. Most of Central and Southern America became Spanish colonies, and their conquerers stayed for about 250 years.
Sir Walter Raleigh
The word cigar itself comes from the Mayan word sikar (smoking), which became cigarro in Spanish. The conquistadors observed the smoking of tobacco amongst the natives and brought it back to Europe, where it became first a medicine, then a luxury and finally a fashion. Sir Walter Raleigh, himself a much admired figure at the English royal court, helped the cigar to become highly-valued in Britain too.