Origins & milestones

Oud & incense did not arrive as one bottle. The timeline below keeps Grasse, Guerlain, Chanel, Nahéma and IFRA as proper names, not metaphors.

Read the years as a map of trade and reformulation, not as a ranking of beauty.

Timeline

1. AntiquityAgarwood east

   Sanskrit aguru, Chinese chenxiang, Japanese jinkō — incense before extrait.

2. KōdōJapan

   Listening to incense; kyara as the highest agarwood grade.

3. Gulf bakhoorCenturies

   Wood chips, sugar, resin on charcoal as hospitality.

4. Kannauj / AssamAgar attars

   Indian distillation of agar into sandal or as ruh.

5. 2002M7

   Yves Saint Laurent / Paloma Picasso brief; Western designer oud.

6. 2000sMontale / Mancera

   Paris-Gulf extraits, Aoud in the name.

7. 2007+Tom Ford Oud Wood

   Polished woody oud for boutiques, less barnyard.

8. 2010sEvery house an oud

   Flankers, “royal oud,” rose-oud as a luxury code.

9. 2010sPlantation agar

   Southeast Asia inoculates Aquilaria to meet demand.

10. IFRA yearsSmoke recuts

    Some incense materials recut; the idea does not leave.

The eras

• Incense cultures — Kyara, bakhoor, Chinese and Indian agar — no “oud family” in Paris.
• Resin extras — Frankincense in orientals; agar still a specialist oil.
• Western discovery — M7, Montale, first Ford ouds.
• Oud inflation — The word on every brief; quality collapses.
• Split — Kyara/kōdō seriousness versus candy-oud flankers.

Milestones

• Kōdō kyara — A grading culture older than designer oud.
• M7, 2002 — The Paris door opens.
• Plantation inoculation — Twenty-first-century agar as agriculture.

Oud & incense keeps moving; the other six chapters say what one date cannot.

Origins & milestonesNotes & accordsCraft & methodCulture & meaningIcons & legendsHow to wearMarket & bottles