Like perfumes? Here is the whole history of how it came to be.
The word Ittar comes from the Persian word Attar that translates to fragrance or scent. The extraction of perfume from botanical sources has been a practice in your country for centuries and can be dated back to 60000 years old. It is mentioned in epics that the kings and royals had to begin their day with fragrance. About 150 different fragrant essential oils were available at their disposal for them to smell good with.
In Egyptian history, perfumes have a special mention. There were chosen flowers that could be extracted for the making of oils and soaps. They were the first to come up with a distillation of rose petals to make a scent. There were several cardiac medicines, out of which 62 were made from ittar.
The familiar scents were rose, saffron and jasmine. In Yamen, the ittar was made from mountainous flowers, especially for the queen. It was a gift from the monarchies of Arabia. It could cure various health disorders and be widely used in Greek medicines.
There was a whole department of perfumery for his successors in Akbar's court to keep their body smelling nice fresh smelling. The luxuries of the royals included having a fountain of ittar to have the entire chamber gushing in floral fragrances.
After the decline of the Mughals, the Nawabi era promoted the cultivation of Ittar through its craftsmen, and it still continues to date.
Kannuauj has a history of being the perfume capital of India. The trading of perfume for this city has been going on for centuries. The natural ittars were made from musk, camphor, sandalwood etc. Sufi worshippers still use Ittar while meditating and dancing for religious practices.
One of the familiar scents used widely today is natural musk. It has a lot of use in medicines and confectionaries. Oud has been traded and cherished among healers, perfumers, oil traders and alchemists. It contains properties that release stress and pain.
Sandwood oil is used for having a calming effect during meditation. Rose petals are primarily obtained through distillation. Within emollients, it has inflammatory properties too.
The traditional application of ittars was worn on the wrist with a drop each and rubbed to have sweet-smelling hands the whole day. Even though there are various spray can option for spelling good today, there is something about the traditional ittars that cannot be replaced.
