In this era of globalisation, India is constantly striving to make better relations with its neighbours. In this

direction, India launched the ‘Look East Policy’ in the year 1991 to redefine its social, economic and strategic

relations with its immediate neighbours Southeast Asian countries. In the changing environment and encouraged

goal was to promote its strategic and trade relations with Southeast Asian countries. The history of trade relations

between India and Southeast Asian countries goes back to thousands of years. Traders used to sell many valuable

goods from Southeast Asian countries to the Arab and Western world through India. Among these valuable

items, there is mention of silk as well as aromatic substances. Agarwood occupies a very important place among

these aromatic substances. Agarwood is a very precious resinous aromatic wood. It is obtained from trees of

Aquilaria malaccensis and other Indomalesian Aquilaria species. In China, India, Japan and the Middle East, it

present, Agarwood products (chips, beads, powders, perfumes) and oil are in high demand in the international

market. The price of Agarwood oil can range from $10,000 to $40,000 per kg, depending on its quality, origin

and distillation process. Innovative research in the medical field is also the reason for the increase in its

international demand. Even though Agarwood is mainly obtained from Southeast Asian countries, its oil

distillation is mostly done in ‘Hojai’ district of Assam province of India. Simultaneously, India is playing an

important role in re-exporting many Agarwood products and reaching the largest consumers of Agarwood in

Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to know the cultural, traditional, religious

and economic effects of Agarwood on the relations between Indian and Southeast Asian countries.

a resinous wood called Agarwood. Due to its medicinal properties, resin has been used in many civilizations

throughout history (Lee, 2018). The earliest aromatic ingredients used are Frankincense and Myrrh, described

on an Assyrian clay tablet (Oyen and Dung,1999). The Frankincense and Myrrh are mentioned in the Bible as

gifts brought by three wise men to Jesus (Organixx, 2017), people have been utilising the extracts and oils of

aromatic plants as medicine, incense, perfume and cosmetics since ancient times (Marwah, 2011-2012). We get

information about the use of aromatic plants in India through Vedas (1400 BCE) (López-Sampson and Page,

2018) these literatures demonstrate the various ways in which fragrant items are used during religious and other

social performance (Marathe, 2017).The biggest sources of aroma materials are fragrant woods (Oyen and

Dung,1999). Fragrant woods were traded both route land as well as maritime, many Kingdom of different regions

support this trade (Sridharan,1982). So many species of plants produce Aromatic oils, but Agarwood has their

modern medicines (Mohamed and Lee, 2016) but nowadays Agarwood is popularly used in perfumery to make

different kinds of scent (Mohemad and Lee, 2016). The use of Agarwood in perfumery is described in various

Indian texts such as Brihat-Samhita, Gandhasāra and Abhilashitartha Chintamani (Macang, 2012). Due to the

huge demand in the market and good economic value of Agarwood, Aquilaria draws attention to various

communities (Mohamed and Lee, 2016). Publicly accessible research has just recently been released, and the

vast majority of this study focuses on “practical knowledge” (Jung, 2013). Agarwood is widely used in Arabian

culture, today Agarwood has been highly demanded in Japan and Taiwanese markets in many aromatic materials

(Traffic report India). From Kannauj to Grasse Agarwood oil is one of the basic required materials for making

best branded perfumes.

in Tibetans, sasi or sashi in Assamese (Mohamed and Lee2016), agallochum in Greek, ahaloth in Hebrew

(Grepping 1988; Schafer 1963;yule and Burnell 1903) Chen Xiang in Chinese (Miller1969:35) jinkoh in

Japanese. Agarwood genus name Aquilaria is derived from the Latin word aquila meaning eagle (Shabna.P).

The botanist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck gave the genus its final name, Aquilaria, in 1783, replacing its synonym,

Agallochum of Dioscorides (Mohmed and Lee, 2016).

"Sinking

incense"

Mathews (1974)

"Sinking incense"

Brechbill (2012)

The Greeks and Romans made extensive use of frankincense and myrrh both in the worship of their deities and

in the cremation of dead bodies (Liu, 2010). Agarwood is used in Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic ceremonies, as

well as various Southeast Asian folk religions (Jung, 2016). Incense and other aromatic substances have long

been connected to holiness, spirituality, and rituals (Jung, 2016), and people believed that fragrant clouds take

their prayer to heaven (Hyams, 2004). Agarwood is sometimes referred to as "The spirit of heaven/god," "The

aroma of heaven," and "The wood of the gods'' (Jung, 2016). Agarwood is occasionally used in Buddhist contexts

is also discussed in the Valmiki Ramayana (Das and Bajpai, 2021). Agarwood was utilised in cremation of

Dasarath's body along with sandalwood and devdaru (Das and Bajpai, 2021). For the royal cremation of King

Bhumibol of Thailand, who passed away in 2016, four Agarwood trees were recently chosen (The nation, 2016).

Several hadiths in Islamic contexts indicate that Paradise will have been fragrant with oud (Lopez-Sampson and

Page). Agarwood is mostly associated with the mother goddess in Southeast Asia (Jung, 2016).

Agarwood is widely used according to Hindu traditions, although the Mahabharata describes Agarwood in

multiple places (López-Sampson and Page, 2018) as luxury, enjoyment and well-being (Rhind, 2014). The

residents of the ancient city of Khandavaprastha welcomed faraway visitors by filling the entire city (López-

Sampson and Page,2018), with the "sweet aroma of burning aloe", according to the First Book of the

Mahabharata (Book1,section CCXXIII). In book number second of Mahabharata a brief description of garland

of flowers and aloe incense (Book 2, sectionXXIX). Duryodhan recalls the abundance of aloe wood, sandalwood,

and fragrances he lavished on as a tribute in the Mahabharata (Das and Bajpai 2021). It is known that people in

that time knew how to use cosmetic and aromatic goods in a variety of ways (Marathe,2017).

many differences in opinion but old and new both Testament describe the use of aloe. Agarwood was and still

is the most prized type of however, several academics asserted that the medicinal Agarwood mentioned in this

scripture is distinct from the aromatic Agarwood.incense in many regions of the world (Jung, 2016). The

aromatic aloes mentioned in the Bible and recognised by numerous authors as coming from the East Indian tree

agarwood (Balfour 1866; Greppin 1988; Harbaugh1855) should thus not be confused with the bitter agarwood

(Balfour1866; Rimmel1865; Schoff1922; Tielle 1885).

With the expansion of Buddhism, Southeast Asia's incense culture has flourished and they used agarwood mainly

in prayers in front of Buddha. Jataka tales, a detailed literature about Buddha birth, referred to the use of

Agarwood (López-Sampson and Page, 2018). Agarwood and sandalwood were also used with other woody

materials in the funeral ceremony of Sariputta (Ireland,2005). (Bazin, 2013) recommended that five natural

and Page,2018).

Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 544). Prophet Muhammad suggested Agarwood as a medical treatment (Shih al -Bukhari

5692,5693,Book 76,Hadith 15,Lopez,2018). Agarwood was employed in the significant practise of fumigation,

according to Nafi's account of Ibn Umar, either by itself or when combined with camphor (Sahih Muslim 2254

Book 40, Hadith 23; English Translation Book 27, Hadith 5601). It is well known that the prophet Muhammad

favoured the aroma of aloe or a blend of aloe and camphor (Book 27 no. 5601) (Shih Muslim n.d).

Agarwood has long been used for secular purposes. Agarwood is mentioned in the Arthashastra of the year 2

BCE as a medicine that is also used in cosmetics. Agarwood and other aromatics were also subject to a state tax

in the Arthashastra, which was set at a rate of tenth or fifteenth of the item's sale price (López-Sampson and

Page, 2018). The poetic work of Cilappatikram (Circa 5th century C.E.) provides evidence of the significance

general (CITES 2005, Dash et al. 2008, Mei et al.2008, Miller and Miller 1995). Agarwood is used in different

communities to get rid of different diseases.

third shui chen (total sinking) (Lopez-Sampson and Page, 2018), with the amount of resin (wood density) present

in the agarwood being positively correlated with the depth of sinking (Mohamed andLee 2016; Shizhen 2003).

Aquilaria malaccensis,A.hirta and A.rostrata

methods have found great success in Vietnam. Artificial Agarwood production has provided a new source of

income to the farmers and has also protected wild Agarwood. Two types of wood are obtained from Agar trees

of 10 to 12 years. The first one which is deep black in colour which contains oil and one which is light coloured

which does not contain oil. The black coloured wood is separated from the white wood in the form of chips in

the distillery. In Assam Agarwood is soaked in a water tank for 45 to 90 days followed by hydrodistillation to

obtain three grades of Agarwood oil. In which the oil obtained from the first batch is called saline, the oil obtained

from the second batch is called Boha and the oil obtained from the third batch is called Boya (Abidin et al.,