Is Urdu Indian

Hindi and Urdu are generally considered to be one spoken language with two different literary traditions. That means that Hindi and Urdu speakers who shop in the same markets have no problems understanding each other -- they'd both say yeh kitne kaa hay for 'How much is it? And the Urdu one will be یہ کتنے کا ہے؟ Hindi is written from left to right in the Devanagari script, and is the official language of India, along with English. Urdu, on the other hand, is written from right to left in the Nastaliq script and is the national language of Pakistan.

It's also one of the official languages of the Indian states of Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir. Considered as one, these tongues constitute the second most spoken language in the world, sometimes called Hindustani. In their daily lives, Hindi and Urdu speakers communicate in their 'different' languages without major problems. Both Hindi and Urdu developed from Classical Sanskrit, which appeared in the Indus Valley at about the start of the Common Era. The first old Hindi poetry was written in the year 769 AD, and by the European Middle Ages it became known as 'Hindvi'.

Muslim Turks invaded the Punjab in 1027 and took control of Delhi in 1193. They paved the way for the Islamic Mughal Empire, which ruled northern India from the 16th century until it was defeated by the British Raj in the mid-19th century. It was at this time that the language of this book began to take form, a mixture of Hindvi grammar with Arabic, Persian and Turkish vocabulary. The Muslim speakers of Hindvi began to write in the Arabic script, creating Urdu, while the Hindu population incorporated the new words but continued to write in Devanagari script.

In the Delhi region of India the native language was Khariboli, whose earliest form is known as Old Hindi . It belongs to the Western Hindi group of the Central Indo-Aryan languages. The contact of the Hindu and Muslim cultures during the period of Islamic conquests and in the Indian subcontinent led to the development of Hindustani as a product of a composite Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb. In cities such as Delhi, the Indian language Old Hindi began to acquire many Persian loanwords and continued to be called "Hindi" and later, also "Hindustani".

In southern India , a form of the language flourished in medieval India and is known as Dakhini, which contains loanwords from Telugu and Marathi. An early literary tradition of Hindavi was founded by Amir Khusrau in the late 13th century. From the 13th century until the end of the 18th century the language now known as Urdu was called Hindi, Hindavi, Hindustani, Dehlavi, Lahori, and Lashkari.

The Turko-Afghan Delhi Sultanate established Persian as its official language in India, a policy continued by the Mughal Empire, which extended over most of northern South Asia from the 16th to 18th centuries and cemented Persian influence on Hindustani. The name Urdu was first introduced by the poet Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi around 1780. While Urdu retained the grammar and core Indo-Aryan vocabulary of the local Indian dialect Khariboli, it adopted the Nastaleeq writing system – which was developed as a style of Persian calligraphy.

In India, although Urdu is not and never was used exclusively by Muslims , the ongoing Hindi–Urdu controversy and modern cultural association of each language with the two religions has led to fewer Hindus using Urdu. In part because the Pakistani government proclaimed Urdu the national language at Partition, the Indian state and some religious nationalists began to regard Urdu as a 'foreign' language, to be viewed with suspicion. Urdu advocates in India disagree whether it should be allowed to write Urdu in the Devanagari and Latin script to allow its survival, or whether this will only hasten its demise and that the language can only be preserved if expressed in the Perso-Arabic script.

Urdu, which was often referred to by the British administrators in India as the Hindustani language, was promoted in colonial India by British policies to counter the previous emphasis on Persian. Urdu replaced Persian as the official language of India in 1837 and was made co-official, along with English. Well so much for the political background of these two languages i just proud to know that Urdu is not just spoken & understood in the whole of Sub-continent but also in middle east and Africa as a native language and even in the southamerican country of Guiyana.

During more than two hundred years of British rule, shifting winds of patronage changed the linguistic landscape immensely. It was during the colonial period that the Indian public became more invested in language politics, and began to promote Hindi and Urdu as distinct languages, distinguished not only by orthography, but on a more fundamental level, as markers of cultural identity. Some even engaged in language debates and sought to "purify," standardize, and garner institutional recognition of "their" language. With independence and Partition in 1947, Hindi became the official language of India, and Urdu the official language of Pakistan, though one of the ironies of this history is that more people claim Urdu as their first language in today's India than in Pakistan. Given the present geopolitical reality in the subcontinent, we may expect to see further consolidation of distinct national standards in the future. Like all biased proposals, this, too, is based on total, to some extent deliberate, ignorance.

Urdu as a language was born in India, based on Hindi, Persian and Arabic. As it evolved, perhaps from the 6th to the 13th centuries, it was variously called Hindustani, Hindavi, Dehlavi and other names and was spoken by large swathes of the people. Both Hindu and Muslim poets and writers have written in Urdu right down to the early 20th century. Urdu stands witness to the rich syncretism of Indian culture that is reflected in Indian music, art and architecture too. But the history of a language is never simple, nor is its development unilinear.

In the oppositional politics before Partition, Urdu, written in the Nastaliq script and not in Devanagari, became identified with Muslims, and after 1947, it became the national language of Pakistan. Literature and poetry even today would demonstrate the artificiality of such divisions. Yet the politics of language is a powerful tool to unite — as in Bangladesh — and divide people — as happened during Partition. It is this politics in which the Narendra Modi-led government apparently wishes to dabble now. What is a national language in Pakistan cannot be a scheduled language in Mr Modi's India.

Maybe the Centre should concentrate on more urgent matters rather than waste time playing with the status of languages for no reason whatsoever. In conclusion, history writing in India and about India of the 18th and 19th centuries was a product of a complex crosscurrent of languages and ideas. In the 18th century, historiography of India was defined by Persian language histories written for the courts of Muslim, Sikh and Hindu rulers. British colonial administrators approached this literary heritage with an eye to translating and moulding that knowledge for their own uses.

Persian histories and the Persian language were studied in an intensified effort to understand India's past. Through the acquisition of historical forms of knowledge and as a product of colonial politics, a new literary socio-cultural understanding was enabled through the efforts of the munshī. Individuals occupying this post crafted a " modern " colonial historical understanding of India. Through the creation of British colonial histories, first in translation, and later through " original " English language histories, colonial historiography was born.

In many ways the historiography produced in South Asia came full circle. Once a matter of translating Persian historiography into English, now, English conceptual history was translated back into India. This dense engagement of language and politics produced a transcultural globalized sphere where a new literary product and a new historical understanding of India in the 19th century was born. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan group of languages, a subset of Indo-European.

Hindi and Urdu are descended from the language that was spoken in the area in and around Delhi in North India roughly in the ninth and tenth centuries. This language was given the Persian metonym Hindvi/Hindi, i.e the language of Hind , by the Persian-speaking Turks who overran Punjab and the Gangetic plains in the early eleventh century and established what is known as the Delhi Sultanate. Hindvi was constructed largely from Sanskrit loan words which had been 'softened' for 'bol-chal' or common speech. It also absorbed Persian, and through Persian, Arabic loan words, and developed as a mixed or broken language of communication between the newly arrived immigrants and the resident native population of North India. It travelled south and west as the Sultanate expanded beyond the Gangetic plains. From the eighteenth century Hindvi began to flower as a literary language.

In the course of another century it split into Hindi and Urdu, the former representing a Sanskrit bias and the latter a Persian one. Contemporary spoken Hindi and Urdu speech registers have a measure of English thrown in too. With such rich historical antecedents, it's an exciting language to learn.

If you choose to learn the Urdu script, you get two languages for the price of one. Confusingly, Khariboli is also used to denote the standard form of Hindi-Urdu today, as this regional dialect, once called Dehlavi and centered around the old Mughal capital of Delhi, has had great impact on the official shape of language. Urdu is the sole national, and one of the two official languages of Pakistan .

It is spoken and understood throughout the country, whereas the state-by-state languages are the provincial languages, although only 7.57% of Pakistanis speak Urdu as their first language. Its official status has meant that Urdu is understood and spoken widely throughout Pakistan as a second or third language. It is used in education, literature, office and court business, although in practice, English is used instead of Urdu in the higher echelons of government. Article 251 of the Pakistani Constitution mandates that Urdu be implemented as the sole language of government, though English continues to be the most widely used language at the higher echelons of Pakistani government.

In pre-colonial India, the historian writing in Persian frequently served in administrative posts as judges, advisors, ministers, and mid-level bureaucrats. The crafters of history were rarely, if ever, exclusively authors14. As such, Persian history writing was didactic in nature and closely wedded to the genre of advice literature.

As the British acquired more knowledge and power and employed larger numbers of Persian literati within the colonial apparatus, a significant transformation took place in the social function of the Persian historian. During 17th century Mughal times, the title of munshī had been conferred upon court scribes responsible for official correspondence. Under British service this position increasingly and exclusively evolved into the " Moonshee ", " a native teacher of languages, especially of Arabic, Persian, and Urdū "15. The transformation of the munshī into a cross-cultural interlocutor can be seen " literally " in the most important Persian grammar of the period titled, The Persian Moonshee16. Major shifts in the administrative cadre from Mughal to British institutional governance appeared across bureaucratic offices such as was the case of the akhbār navīs17. Members of the new class of " native " colonial scholars produced, at the impetus of British colonial administrators and for the first time, a colonial Persian historiographical tradition.

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and is used as an official language in parts of India. Urdu shares an everyday vernacular with Hindi, but the two languages are written in different scripts and have developed different literary styles. Students with no knowledge of Urdu who wish to pursue it at Cornell should take the first-year Hindi class in order to learn basic speaking and listening skills.

If they also take the Urdu script course in the Spring of the first year, they should be ready for Intermediate Urdu the next Fall. Although Persian was the official language, used at the Imperial court and within the socio-economic institutions of the time, Arabic remained as the official language of the Muslim religion in the Indian subcontinent. Amir Khosrow was its first known poet, and the mixed language that he wrote in was variously termed Hindvi, Dehlavi, Rekhta, Hindustani at different points of its evolution. It was the language of the common people, spoken in army camps, in markets, by artisans, said Dr. Jawed.

The history and origins of any language will have complicated and lateral developments. It is difficult for any language to have a linear and time lined progression. Similarly, the evolution or origin of Urdu has multiple theories surrounding its existence and growth.

However, being itself is an essence of what true integration of cultures might mean. Hindustani was the language whose grammar and syntax was 'Hindi' and whose script was 'Urdu'. It was this language that was spoken, written and expounded by the great minds of its time, including Amir Khusrau.

The Hindustani or Hindavi language is what later was referred to as Urdu, but it was laden heavily with vocabulary from both Sanskrit and Persian. Many linguists count both Hindi and Urdu as the same language because of their grammar and vocabulary similarities. Many others cite it as a socio-political reason for reading and counting them as two separate languages.

Hence Urdu emerges perhaps as a wonderful amalgamation of cultures that decided to flourish by taking the best of each other. And in the course, creating a linguistic and literary treasure that finds keepers till date. The Delhi Sultanate had made Persian as their official language, and this continued even during the Mughal Empire.

Amir Khusrau in the 13th century was a famous scholar who wrote his renditions and poems in Hindavi. Though the language was the written and spoken language of the region, it was only at the end of Aurangzeb's rule in the 18th century that it began to be called Zaban-e-Urdu. Before that, the language was known by its many names, including Hindi, Hindavi, Dehlavi, etc., and it was the language of all irrespective of them being Hindus or Muslims. It flourished in the elite and courtly surroundings retaining its core vocabulary from the Indo-Aryan language base akin to the local Khariboli but its writing or script was adopted in the Persian style of calligraphy. South Asia is a now a major economic and geopolitical power, and home to one fifth of the world's population. By conservative estimates, over half a billion people speak the language in South Asia, and depending on chosen parameters, it is variously ranked as the second- to fourth-most widely spoken language in the world!

To directly communicate with this vast population of Hindi-Urdu speakers and have unfettered and unfiltered access to the rich cultural history of North India and Pakistan, fluency in Hindi-Urdu is essential. There a rich literary tradition in Hindi-Urdu, and its dialectal ancestors going back about a thousand years. There is also a thriving popular culture of South Asia, one which is very much dependent on Hindi-Urdu. Soap operas, comic books, Bollywood films, street theater, and love songs, all communicate in this language. The name Urdu was first used by the poet Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi around 1780.

Where In India Do They Speak Urdu From the 13th century until the end of the 18th century Urdu was commonly known as Hindi. The language was also known by various names such as Hindavi or Dehlavi. Hindustani in Persian script was used by Muslims and Hindus but was current chiefly in Muslim-influenced society. Hindustani was promoted in British India by British policies to counter the previous emphasis on Persian. This triggered a Hindu backlash in northwestern India, which argued that the language should be written in the native Devanagari script. This literary standard called "Hindi" replaced Urdu as the official language of Bihar in 1881, establishing a sectarian divide of "Urdu" for Muslims and "Hindi" for Hindus, a divide that was formalized with the division of India and Pakistan after independence.

C. Rajagopalachari, chief minister of Madras Presidency introduced Hindi as a compulsory language in secondary school education though he later relented and opposed the introduction of Hindi during the Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965. Bal Gangadhar Tilak supported Devanagari script as the essential part of nationalist movement. The language policy of Congress and the independence movement paved its status as an alternative official language of independent India.

Tom Ford Cologne Oud Wood

One of the most rare, precious and expensive ingredients in a perfumer's arsenal, TOM FORD's Oud Wood fragrance is a rich, warm scent to intense the senses. Exotic rose wood and cardamom give way to a smoky blend of rare oud wood, sandalwood and vetiver, while soothing tonka bean and amber add a touch of sensuality. One of the most rare, precious and expensive ingredients in Tom Ford's perfume arsenal, Oud Wood is often burned in incense-filled temples. Exotic rose wood and cardamom give way to a smoky blend of rare oud wood, sandalwood and vetiver. Tonka bean and amber add warmth and sensuality. One of the most rare, precious, and expensive ingredients in a perfumer's arsenal, oud wood is often burned in the incense filled temples of bhutan.

One of the most rare, precious, and expensive ingredients in a perfumers arsenal, Oud Wood is often burned in incense- filled temples. Oud Wood is one of the most rare, precious and expensive ingredients in a perfumer's arsenal. One of the most rare, precious, and expensive ingredients in a perfumer's arsenal, oud wood is often burned in the incense-filled temples of bhutan. One of the most rare, precious, and expensive ingredients in a perfumer's arsenal, oud wood is often burned in the incense-filled temples of Bhutan. Exotic rose wood and cardamom, blended with exuberant Chinese pepper, envelop the wearer in warmth.

Eventually, the center exposes a smoky blend of rare oud wood, sandalwood and vetiver. Finally, the creamy scents of tonka bean, vanilla and amber are revealed. In a short time, the blend exudes an essence of exotic rosewood followed by a smoky accord of oud wood, sandalwood and vetiver roots, which envelop me in pleasant warmth. The vetiver emerges genuinely, and it remains prominent for the length of the perfume's development. There is no massive bite to the oud, and the oud here is different to others that I have smelled.

Cardamom has become slightly more prominent now, with a heavier camphor tone. Its cool undertones balance the rosy notes that are often found in oud fragrances. And the combination of oud with the aromatic and nutty cardamom is terrific. The smokiness reminds me of the atmosphere of an ancient incense-filled temple during some spiritual function, where the walls, floor and roof soak in burnt olibanum oil veil. It is a resinous woodiness with an interesting smell.

This rich and warm blend of wood and spice notes pays homage to oud wood, a prized ingredient that perfumers the world-over are enthralled by. Wrap yourself in the aroma of exotic rosewood, cardamom, tonka bean, amber and the smoky blend of oud wood, sandalwood and vetiver when you're in the mood to indulge. Tom Ford Oud Wood Perfume as the name implies belongs to the classic woody family. The key notes include Chinese pepper, rare oud wood, and sandalwood. This combination of smoky and exotic fragrances is rich and compelling.

This rich scent is adored by men and women alike. The TF fragrance goes on with a heavy but majestic black fragrance of black wood incense. The incense is naturally brooding, with a smoky, frosted texture.

Although both woody, incense is very different from cedar, sandalwood and guaiac woods. If other woody fragrances are white and flowing, then incense must be a low-key emperor who has crossed the world, indulging in the boundaries of restraint, jumping between dominance and coolness. The spicy scent of pepper, like a stubble-ridden yuppie or a woman in a suit with a cigarette in her mouth, TF's fragrance is so wonderful, it always breaks through the limits of gender. The fragrances of TF are so wonderful, they always break the limits of gender and bring endless imagination. But whether male or female, incense gives the wearer a picture of "abstinence", "wisdom", "cool and restrained", just like the black of its bottle and the black of the precious ebony. There is a small sparkle at the end, where the not-so-presence of vanilla root adds a touch of 'sweetness' to the gloomy fragrance, giving it a sense of sweetness and bitterness.

Celebrating what is heralded as one of the rarest and most precious ingredients in perfumery, Oud Wood engages a distinctive and intoxicating fragrance that prominently displays its namesake. An oriental woody fragrance launched in 2007; Oud Wood displays notes of Oud, rosewood, sandalwood, cardamom, vanilla, amber, Sichuan pepper, vetiver and tonka bean. It combines deep woody notes with aromatic spices that will make any modern man feel confident and energetic. Notes of agarwood and Brazilian rosewood lead the way with a strong scent that reminds us of walking and being in a dense jungle environment. Meanwhile, the notes of pepper and cardamom give the spicy flavor a cheery, lively flavor. The earthy fragrance is underpinned by a rare, precious oud wood, enveloping the wearer in its rich and dark blend of sensuality and strength.

Exotic spices and Cardamom add further warmth to the Eau de Parfum, complemented by natural elements of Sandalwood, Rosewood and Amber. Confident and seductive, this intoxicating and elusive scent embodies the Tom Ford man. Oud Wood is housed in a smoked grey private blend bottle, inspired by the architectural appeal of a chess piece. A composition of exotic, smoky woods including rare oud, sandalwood, rosewood, Eastern spices, and sensual amber, revealing oud wood's rich and compelling power. It is a calmness that is willing to be approached, especially for winter. It can be uncomfortable at first, but after a few attempts, you simply fall in love with the scent.

On the finish, the woody background prevails, sometimes almost green, complex, dry, which gives the perfume a vaguely austere elegance. The creamy and powdery aromas of tonka pod, spicy vanilla, and sensual amber give the fragrance a dense trail of warmth and sensuality. There are faint traces of vanilla and tonka.

The base is not a sweet and gourmand bomb, and the oud occasionally appears fleeting, but the ground is mostly just sandalwood and vetiver. Using that bit of amber is done masterfully, and if they used more, the bottom would become too sweet and powdery a deal. A very virile, woody and at the same time gentle and masculine drydown. I received a sample of this perfume along with an order I recently placed.

You can't imagine my reaction when I saw it was none other than Tom Ford Oud Wood. Yes, because this perfume is on my wishlist, together with Faking Fabolous. I love potent aromas, everything related to the word "animal", understood as something that comes from the way of the fauna and the flora. Mineral, metallic, resinous, smoky, leathery, medicinal scents drive me crazy.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that ingredients such as leather, moist earth, rain, resins, petrichor, balsams, syrups, and amber are all my cup of tea. By the way, about Oud Wood, this fragrance differs from most of the Arabian colognes, meaning it does not rely on the well-known formula of oud-rose or oud-saffron pairs. Instead, it is planned differently without too much sweetness. It doesn't smell like any other Oud out there, and I think that's why I love it.

Because it smells different, like I've never smelled any other perfume like this before. A spicy opening of Szechwan pepper and cardamom evolves towards a smoky heart built around agarwood , sandalwood and vetiver. The ambry dry-down is enriched with notes of vanilla and tonka bean. Oud Wood is one of the fragrances in Tom Ford's luxurious Private Blend collection. Exotic rosewood and cardamom introduce a charcoal blend of rare Oud wood, sandalwood and vetiver.

This starts off with a spicy cardamom and rosewood up top and slowly dries down to a creamy sandalwood, tonka and very tame and wearable oud. This is an all round signature scent worthy fragrance. In April 2005, Ford announced the creation of the TOM FORD brand. Ford was joined in this venture by former Gucci Group President and Chief Executive Officer Domenico De Sole, who serves as Chairman of the company. There are currently 15 private blend and 6 signature fragrances in the TOM FORD beauty collection, as well as a complete cosmetics collection, which launched in Fall 2011.

Both the eyewear and beauty collections have been hugely successful and rank in the top 3 brands at specialty stores worldwide. Métallique is grossly underrated in the Tom Ford lineup, especially as a scent for men. It blends floral notes with crisp bergamot, spicy pink peppercorn, and a strong, creamy vanilla-sandalwood base. It's one of the brand's more "classic" scents in terms of its wear, with a universally pleasing cast . I think that people expect all Tom Ford fragrances to scream and shout, whereas this one plays by the rules and earns perfect marks for it. Best Men's Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby.

Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes. Sitting underneath the two main notes, is a distinct rosewood, some vanilla sweetness, and the familiar scent of sandalwood. After a few minutes of wear, I notice the vetiver poking through, as well.

At this point Oud Wood, begins to be less spicy, and has a bit of a sour element within the composition. Tom Ford Oud Wood is one of the original 12 fragrances released in the Private Blend collection. This oriental spicey fragrance starts with a wrap of warmth, then a smoky blend and smooth finale. Cool spices and warm wood, wrapped in silky oud and vanilla.

Tom Ford launched M7 for YSL when he was there - a legendary fragrance that bombed when it was released because nobody was ready for it. Now it is discontinued and hard to find and expensive when you do find it. Tom Ford Oud Wood is Tom Ford's second attempt at M7, with much better results on marketing. People, in general, have responded well to this fragrance. Once you apply it, it opens softly, much softer than the usual Tom Ford fragrances.

The first impression you will get include rose, sweet, and probably even cardamom. Then, there is pepper and hints of rich vanilla. Followed by that, the tones of oud kick in. The scent of oud is not aggressive, it's covered by the veil of sweetness and spice. This private blend collection was introduced to us in 2007. The perfume is available in 50 ml and 250 ml bottles.

Oud, one of the main ingredients in the perfume is a resin that grows on trees in the agarwood genus. It is one of those scents which separate Middle East fragrances from the rest of the world. The notes consist of Oud, Brazilian rosewood, cardamom, Sichuan pepper, sandalwood, vetiver , Tonka bean, vanilla and amber.

Oud wood is a perfect introductory oud scent, with a perfect blend of woods that helps round everything out. Definitely worth the price if you can buy at around $100 or so. It is a light, subtle, masculine fragrance that I thoroughly enjoy, but wouldn't purchase at retail.

Does not remain spicy, though, as it is enveloped by the scent of an ambered sandalwood peeking through with an underlying touch of vetiver. There's still a lingering of smoke, but it's musky, sultry, and delectably woody. It smells luxe–rich and earthy–and reminds me a little of what sexiness might embody if it were a scent ."

Smoky, incense-filled temples and a passion for rare, precious oud wood inspire TOM FORD's's pioneering composition of exotic woods and spices. Surrender to the pull of rare, precious oud, exotic spices and cardamom – a gift of dark sensuality. This set features Oud Wood 50mL perfume and a luxe travel-size atomizer. Also at this point, the oud note, isn't the main attraction. As the fragrance dries down, I get the other woodsy notes, vetiver, amber, a bit of sweetness, and the cardamom. The two new perfumes are Tobacco Oud and Oud Fleur.

The former is inspired by Dokha, "a blend of herbs, flowers and spice-laden tobacco that was smoked in secret five centuries ago during a ban on smoking" and is suitably tobacco-filled. Oud Fleuris somewhat more difficult to pin down, and presents a slightly more individual take on the note. Between the two of them however, these two new fragrances show that when it comes to oud, Tom Ford is a significant cut above the rest. Although the fragrance is really only oud, amber and cardamom , the fragrance smells unique in its composition.

One is delighted to still smell Oud Wood on one's collar or sofa cushion days later. One is definitely noticed, whether one wants this or not. I was really hoping to love this based on the reviews. But the entire tom ford private consistently disappoints me.

There is no restraint and every single scent from the line somehow crosses the line from amazing to vulgar. Very similar to Bond No. 9 in that regard. Overall, do I like this Tom Ford fragrance? I do and I don't The performance isn't good.

I like how it smells at some points in the wear but then it also has a sour smell at times. The oud note, is actually not overwhelming in this one, so I enjoy that fact and the wood notes are great. With Oud Wood by Tom Ford, I get an opening of the oud note, that is paired with cardamom and a peppery spice.

Cardamom is a pretty big player in the early life of this fragrance and the other woody notes sort of take a backseat to it. Tom Ford is one of the most celebrated American designers of his era. He launched the TOM FORD brand in 2005 with a mission to re-define modern luxury for the 21st century. Comprising menswear and womenswear, accessories, eyewear and beauty, TOM FORD is synonymous with sexy, timeless elegance, superior materials and workmanship, and outstanding personal service. Oud - also named Agarwood - is one of the most exclusive raw materials in perfumery, coming from a tropical evergreen tree called the Agar tree.

When certain fungi grow on this tree, the tree naturally responds by releasing a resin which gives rise to the formation of resinous heartwood, known as Oud. Mainly used in the Middle East, Oud contributes mesmerizingly deep, warm, spicy, leathery, balsamic, and woody notes. I know this is quite an old post but I've had Oud Fleur on my radar for a while and am back to look at reviews. I've seen many say that this reminds them of a church, a mix of cold stone, floral notes and smokey incense, and I'm wondering if you'd consider that an accurate description.