Ittar

For attar of roses, see rose oil.
Attar sold at the apex of Jabal ar-Rahmah (also Mount Arafat), Makkah.

Ittar (Hindi/Urdu), also known as attar, is an essential oil derived from botanical sources. Most commonly these oils are extracted via hydro or steam distillation. They can also be expressed by chemical means but generally natural perfumes which qualify as ittars are distilled with water. The oils are generally distilled into a wood base such as sandalwood and then aged. The aging period can last from one to ten years depending on the botanicals used and the results desired.

Ittars are highly concentrated and therefore are usually offered for sale in small quantities in decorated crystal cut bottles or small jeweled decanters. Ittars are popular throughout the Middle East and the Far East of India as well as Bangladesh and Pakistan. Ittars have been used in the entire Eastern world for thousands of years. Ittars are affordable because they are so concentrated that a small bottle will last the regular user several weeks or even months.

Technically ittars are distillates of flowers, herbs, spices and other natural materials such as baked soil over sandalwood oil/liquid paraffins using hydro distillation technique with deg and bhapka. These techniques are still in use today at Kannauj in India. This is one of the oldest natural fragrant materials, nearly 5000 years old. Some of the first lovers of ittars were the Mughal nobles of India. Jasmine ittar was the favorite perfume of the Nizams of the Hyderabad state. Traditionally in the Eastern world, it was a customary practice of nobility to offer ittar to their guests at the time of their departure. The ittars are traditionally given in ornate tiny crystal cut bottles called as itardans. This tradition of giving a scent to one's guests continues to this day in many parts of the Eastern world. Among Sufi worshipers the use of Ittars during meditation circles and dances is quite common.

History

The word 'attar', 'ittar' or 'othr' is essentially an Arabic word meaning 'scent'; believed to have been derived from the Persian word atr, meaning 'fragrance'.

Archaeological evidence shows the earliest inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent held plants in great reverence. With the passage of time, scented oils were extracted by pressing, pulverizing or distilling aromatic vegetable and animal produce. Early indications of this activity are available from the perfume jars and terracotta containers of the Indus Valley civilization, where archeological work has revealed round copper stills, used for the distillation process that are at least five-thousand years old. These stills are called degs. Following the seasons of the flowers, traditional ittar makers, with their degs, traveled all over India to make their fresh ittars on-the-spot. Even now, a few traditional ittar makers still travel with their degs to be close to the harvest. Their equipment has changed little, if at all.

The perfume references are part of a larger text called Brihat-Samhita written by Varahamihira, an Indian astronomer, mathematician and astrologer who lived in the historic city of Ujjain. He was one of the ‘nine jewels’ in the court of the Maharaja of Malwa. The perfume portion mainly deals with the manufacture of perfumes to benefit ‘royal personages and inmates of harems’. The text is written as Sanskrit slokas with commentary by a 10th Century Indian commentator Utpala.

In ancient India, ittar was prepared by placing precious flowers and sacred plants into a water or vegetable oil. Slowly the plants and flowers would infuse the water/oil with their delicate fragrance. The plant and flower material would then be removed and a symphony of their aromatic beauty would be held in the ittar. These ittars were then worn as a sacred perfume or to anoint.

Ittar figures into some of the romantic stories of a bygone era. Its patrons included great poets like the legendary Mirza Ghalib. When Ghalib met his beloved in the winter, he rubbed his hands and face with ittar hina.

In Ain-e-Akbari, Abul Fazal, has mentioned that Akbar used ittar daily and burnt incense sticks in gold and silver censers. A princess's bath was incomplete without incense and ittar. A very popular ittar with the Mughal princes was oud (Agarwood), prepared in Assam.

Situated on the banks of the sacred River Ganges, 80 km from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, is the now almost forgotten ancient city of Kannauj, once the capital of the famed Emperor Harshavardhana. Today it prides itself as the 'Attar City' or the perfume city of India. Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh India is a major producing city of ittar. Here, there is a legend on how the first ittars were made in the area. The forest dwelling Faqirs and Sadhus (ascetics) used certain perfumed jungle herbs and roots in their bonfires during the winters. The shepherds who grazed their sheep in that region found the perfume lingering in the burnt wood long after the ascetics left the place. Word spread about this and some enterprising people searched and found the fragrant herbs and roots. Then the experiments on ittar began and the first ittars to be made were Rose and Hina.

Types

No Name Scientific Name Part Distilled
1 Rose Rosa × damascena Flower
2 Motia/Jasmine Jasminum sambac Flower
3 Mitti Baked earth Earth from river
4 Kewda Pandanus odorifer Flower
5 Kesar Saffron Stigma
6 Oud Aquilaria malaccensis Various parts
7 Gul Hina Henna Flower
8 Genda Tagetes minuta Flower
9 Champa Magnolia champaca Flower
10 Bakul Mimusops elengi Flower
11 Blue Lotus Nymphaea caerulea Flower
12 Pink Lotus Nelumbo nucifera Flower
13 White Lotus Nelumbo nucifera Flower
14 Rajniganda Polianthes tuberosa Flower
15 White Water Lily Nymphaea ampla Flower
16 Zafari Tagetes sp. Flower
17 Shamana compound of fragrant spices, herbs, woods Various parts
18 Amber Amber ----
19 Chameli Jasminum grandiflorum Flower
20 Gulmohar Delonix regia Flower
21 Juhi Jasminum auriculatum Flower
22 Bakhur Melaleuca alternifolia ----
23 Frangipani Plumeria rubra ----
24 Khus Chrysopogon zizanioides Roots
25 Mogra Abelmoschus moschatus Flower
26 Loban Styrax benzoin Various parts
27 Nakh Choya Bitter orange Flower
28 Davana Artemisia pallens Leaves
29 Kasturi Musk Musk gland

Spirituality

For thousands of years ittars were used and understood to be something that attracted angels and warded off darkness or evil spirits. Saints and spiritual aspirants would adorn themselves with the finest scents to assist them in their journey towards enlightenment.[1]

Islam

Most ittars are alcohol-free and are used by many Muslim men and women. Ittar has long been considered one of the most treasured of material possessions and the Islamic prophet, Muhammad has been compared to Ittar as one of the most beloved of gifts given to mankind.

Ittars are used by many Muslims on Friday, for the Jumma Namaz or on the occasion of Eid.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dumbing Down Perfume". Ittar Quarterly Journal.
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