Agarwood/Oud(Aquilaria agallocha) wild harvest/Assam, India

Images of Agarwood/Oud/Aloeswood/Aquilaria agallocha


Agarwood/Oud(Aquilaria agallocha) wild harvest/Assam India
The viscous amber colored liquid obtained from the hydrodistillation of agarwood/oud resin from Assam, India displays a deep, rich, sweet, precious wood, balsamic, earthy, mossy, rooty bouquet with fine radiance and tenacity. A few small drops will give off their aroma for many hours. The bouquet of agarwood/oud oil is very complex and merits a careful olfactory study as it deepens and mellows during the course of its long aromatic life span. A particular trait of the Assam agarwood in my opinion is the delicate, high, sweet ethereal note that arises out of the earthy, precious woods bouquet.

Blends well with aglaia odorata abs; amberi attar; ambrettes seed eo, co2 and abs; angelica root eo, co2 and abs; calamus eo,and co2; carob abs; carrot seed eo, co2 and abs; cistus eo and abs; costus eo, co2 and abs; elecampane eo and abs; frankincense eo and abs; hop eo and co2; jasmin sambac abs; labdanum eo and abs; lotus abs; musk black attar; nagarmotha eo and co2; night queen abs and attar; orange blossom abs; orris root eo, co2 and abs; oakmoss abs; osmanthus abs; patchouli eo, co2 and abs; rose otto and abs; siamwood eo; sandalwood eo, co2 and abs; seaweed abs; shamama attar; spikenard eo and co2; tonka bean abs; vetiver eo, co2 and abs

In perfumery can be used in incense creations, sacred perfumes, precious woods essences, musk recreations, apothecary blends, literary perfumes

Agarwood/Aloeswood/Oud in Literature
Revered Vaishnava saint – reformer and literary giant Sri Sankardeva, Vaisnavite saint Shri Madhab Deb also used sheets of the Agar for giving a written expression to their sermons, widely using agar for their sacred scriptures. Sri Sankardeva is also believed to have said that agar and chandana are the two divine trees capable of fulfilling human desires. Religious puthis and history was also written and copied on specially treated bark of agar trees, known since time immemorial as Sanchipat and puthis, numerous puthis some dating back to as far back as 500 years ago are still preserved in quintessentially Assamese sacred repositories such as Than,Satras and Namgarh.
http://nagaon.nic.in/agar.htm

In the ancient times it was said that two trees of the East held the most sacred and revered status-sandalwood and agarwood. These trees produced within themselves rare aromatics requiring decades to mature. Those who had the good fortune to possess even small amounts of these unique substances were seen to be blessed with good fortune throughout their lives and the lives of the generations that succeeded them provided some of heartwood or resin was kept and not entirely sold off. The memory of those traditional beliefs is preserved in the cultural heritage of the Moslem people. Today they are the main buyers of agarwood and they keep large stocks of the oil and wood in their homes. Indeed the measure of wealth and social status is in some places established by the amount of agarwood that is possessed. All the families that have this material in abundance are seen to be the most prosperous.
Agarwood Diaries

As for me, I looked into the bed of the stream aforesaid and saw therein great plenty of rubies, and great royal pearls and all kinds of jewels and precious stones, which were as gravel in the bed of the rivulets that ran through the fields, and the sands sparkled and glittered with gems and precious ores. Moreover, we found in the island abundance of the finest lign aloes, both Chinese and Comorin.
The Arabian Nights
translated by Sir Richard Burton
1850

A prince inherited immense riches by succeeding to his father. He opened the hand of liberality, displayed his munificence, and bestowed innumerable gifts upon his troops and people. "The brain will not be perfumed by a censer of green aloes-wood; place it over the fire that it may diffuse fragrance like ambergris. If ambitious of a great name, make a practice of munificence, for the crop will not shoot till thou shalt sow the seed."
The Gulistan of Sadi

Now as this lord came straying in Rome town
He saw a little lattice open down
And after it a press of maidens’ heads
That sat upon their cold small quiet beds
Talking, and played upon short-stringèd lutes;
And other some ground perfume out of roots
Gathered by marvellous moons in Asia;
Saffron and aloes and wild cassia,
Coloured all through and smelling of the sun;
And over all these was a certain one
Clothed softly, with sweet herbs about her hair
And bosom flowerful; her face more fair
Than sudden-singing April in soft lands:
Eyed like a gracious bird, and in both hands
She held a psalter painted green and red.
St. Dorothy
Algernon Charles Swinburne

And the bird of heaven flew before, and led us toward the basalt pillars of the West, but this time the oarsmen sang no soft songs under the full moon. In my mind I would often picture the unknown Land of Cathuria with its splendid groves and palaces, and would wonder what new delights there awaited me. “Cathuria,” I would say to myself, “is the abode of gods and the land of unnumbered cities of gold. Its forests are of aloe and sandalwood, even as the fragrant groves of Camorin, and among the trees flutter gay birds sweet with song.
The White Ship
by H. P. Lovecraft

In the times of the Caliph Harun-al-Rashid there lived in Bagdad a poor
porter named Hindbad, who, on a very hot day, was sent to carry a heavy
load from one end of the city to the other. Before he had accomplished
half the distance he was so tired that, finding himself in a quiet
street where the pavement was sprinkled with rose-water, and a cool
breeze was blowing, he set his burden upon the ground, and sat down to
rest in the shade of a grand house. Very soon he decided that he could
not have chosen a pleasanter place; a delicious perfume of aloes-wood
and pastilles came from the open windows and mingled with the scent of
the rose-water which steamed up from the hot pavement.
Sinbad the Sailor/Thousand and One Arabian Nights

They ate thereof till they had enough, when the
tables were removed and they washed their hands with rose-water
and willow-flower-water. Then the merchant brought El Abbas a
napkin perfumed with the fragrant smoke of aloes-wood, on which
he wiped his hand,[FN#80] and said to him, "O my lord, the house
is become thy house; so bid thy servant transport thither the
horses and arms and stuffs."
Tales from the Arabic Volume 3, by John Payne

Her own natural beauty, however, still lingered in that last refuge of beauty--the
eyes, which were large, dark, and sympathetic. Her mouth, too, was
small and amiable, and her most frequent expression was a smile, which
seldom broadened into a laugh, as she had her own reasons for preferring
that her teeth should not be seen. As to her bearing, it was so
dignified, that if this little West Indian had come straight from the
loins of Charlemagne, it could not have been improved upon. Her walk,
her glance, the sweep of her dress, the wave of her hand--they had all
the happiest mixture of the sweetness of a woman and the condescension
of a queen. I watched her with admiration as she leaned forward,
picking little pieces of aromatic aloes wood out of the basket and
throwing them on to the fire.

'Napoleon likes the smell of burning aloes,' said she. 'There was never
anyone who had such a nose as he, for he can detect things which are
quite hidden from me.'

'The Emperor has an excellent nose for many things,' said Talleyrand.
'The State contractors have found that out to their cost.'
Uncle Bernac, by Arthur Conan Doyle

A Powder for Preserving the Hair.=—The following powder has the name
of facilitating the regeneration of the hair and strengthening its
roots. Still more valuable properties have been ascribed to it, such
as that of rousing the imagination to vigorous efforts and
strengthening the memory—delightful properties if they could be
realized by such simple means. Take an ounce and a half of red roses;
a small quantity each of calamus aromaticus (sweet-scented flag), and
of the long cyperus; an ounce of benzoin; six drams of aloes (the wood
of); half an ounce of red coral, and the same quantity of amber; four
ounces of bean flour; and eight ounces of the root of Florentine iris.
Let the whole be mixed together and reduced to a very fine powder, to
which add a few grains of musk. This powder is to be sprinkled on the
hair in the same manner as hair powder is generally used, and, having
remained for a time embedded with the hair, to be removed by means of
comb and brush; and to be occasionally applied and removed. It is said
to regenerate the hair and strengthen the roots, and to possess the
properties which are above enumerated.
The Ladies Book of Useful Information, by Anonymous

Eastward of the Mesaa, near its extremity at the Merowa, branches off a
street called Soueyga, or the Little Market, which runs almost parallel
with the east side of the mosque. Though narrow, it is the neatest
street in the town, being regularly cleaned and sprinkled with water,
which is not the case with any of the others. Here the rich India
merchants expose their piece-goods for sale, and fine Cashmere shawls
and muslins. There are upwards of twenty shops, in which are sold
perfumes, sweet oils, Mekka balsam, (in an adulterated state,) aloe-
wood, civet, &c. Few pilgrims return to their homes without

[p.119] carrying some presents for their families and friends; these are
usually beads, perfumes, balm of Mekka, aloe-wood, which last is used
throughout the east, in small pieces, placed upon the lighted tobacco in
the pipe, producing an agreeable odour.
Travels In Arabia, by John Lewis Burckhardt

Wise Vidura and his comrades sped on sacred duty bound,
Sandalwood and scented aloes, oil and ghee and perfumes found,

Silken robes of costly splendour, fabrics by the artist wove,
Dry wood from the thorny jungle, perfume from the scented grove,

Shattered cars and splintered lances, hewed and ready for the fire,
Piled and ranged in perfect order into many a funeral pyre.
of Maha-bharata, by Anonymous

The Agrahari Banias are Hindus, and some of them belong to the Nanakpanthi sect.
They are principally dealers in provisions, and they have acquired some
discredit as compared with their kinsfolk the Agarwalas, through
not secluding their women and allowing them to attend the shop. They
also retail various sweet-smelling woods which are used in religious
ceremonies, such as aloe-wood and sandalwood, besides a number of
medicines and simples. The richer members of the caste are bankers,
dealers in grain and pawnbrokers.
The Tribes and Castes of the Central
Provinces of India, by R. V. Russell







Links to Agarwood, Oud, Aloeswood, Aquilaria agallocha
Use of Agarwood in Indian medicine
The vegetable materia medica of western India By William Dymock
A dictionary of the economic products of India, Volume 1 By George Watt
Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible By James A. Duke
Plant resins: chemistry, evolution, ecology, and ethnobotany By Jean H. Langenheim
Medicinal and aromatic plants, Volume 8 By Y. P. S. Bajaj
Wikipedia article on Agarwood
Aquilaria agallocha Roxb. in Pandanus database of Indian plant names