Post-liberalisation, rather than selling directly to consumers, the vast majority of ittars and essential oils produced in India were exported to other businesses – either as an input into perfumery and cosmetic industries in the West or to the tobacco industry. Rosewater is an ingredient in chewing tobacco.

But in the past few years, several young, predominantly female Indian entrepreneurs have spotted a gap in the market between these indigenous artisanal skills and India’s thriving consumer culture, and a new set of homegrown brands has emerged.

—  Read more in Smell that: The rise of India’s ittar industry at Al Jazeera.

There are several chapters devoted to perfumes for the House of Pleasure, which contain some of the most detailed advice in the whole book. They give the recipe for a perfumed paste, known as ’abir, whose aroma has been enhanced by the addition of a stupendous list of ingredients: “[Add] mango, ambergris, saffron, musk, essence of mouse-ear plant, Chinese camphor, boiled juice of spikenard; put in flowers scented with aloes, white sandal, sesame oil scent, sweet basil, artemesia essence, turmeric-leaf essence, sacred basil essence, cardamom juice, sandal juice.”

— William Dalrymple writes about the rise and fall of "the greatest olfactory culture the world has ever known", in India, and about modern attempts to revive the tradition. Read more at Scents and sensuality, at The Economist's 1843 magazine. Hat tip to VanMorrisonFan!