The nostril piercing has a long and surprising history. It dates back 4,000 to 5,000 years ago when it was first recorded in the Middle East. In fact, it was brought up in the Bible in Genesis 24:22 — Abraham requested his oldest servant to find a wife for his son Isaac, the servant found Rebekah, and one of the gifts he gave her was a "golden earring," the original Hebrew word used was Shanf, which also translates as "nose-ring."
It was brought to India in the 16th century by the Moghul emperors, and has become popular with Indian girls and women since. In some instances, the ring in the nostril is linked, by a chain, to a jewel in the ear or jewels in the hair. In Northern India, the outside of the left and in Southern India the outside of the right nostril is the preferred position of the piercing, as this is supposed to make childbirth easier — Ayurvedic medicine associates this location with the female reproductive organs.
Nostril piercing is still followed today by the nomadic Berber and Beja tribes of Africa and also by the Bedouin in the Middle East. The size of the ring is indicative of the wealth and stature of the family. Large-gauge nostril piercings are seen in the women of the Apa Tani tribe in the Apatani plateau in India, of Tibetan origin.
By the late 19th century, the Victorian era had made its indelible mark upon society and women's fashion. Ethel Granger, born in 1892, had double nostril piercings as well as many other piercings.
The nostril piercing was brought to the States, in large part, in the 1960s by hippies coming back from India in search of spiritual enlightenment. From there the punk rock scene picked it up in the late 1970s as a form of rebellion against the dominant culture and conservative values.
Today nostril piercings are worn by all genders and are not largely defined by class. Next to the earlobe piercing, it is the most popular form of piercing today, with piercings performed on either the left or right nostril across the U.S., UK, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, and Europe.