The Delhi High Court has permanently barred Amazon retailers from selling sherbets made in Pakistan under the Rooh Afza brand, which is owned by India’s Hamdard. The Hamdard National Foundation (India) approached the court with a complaint that sherbets made in Pakistan were being marketed and sold there under the same name, leading to the court’s decision.

The high court decided in favour of Hamdard, who had registered the name “Rooh Afza” as a trademark in 1907. Each year, the company sells goods under this brand name for more than 200 crore. The petitioner claimed that items bearing the “Rooh Afza” mark on Amazon India were actually being sold by a business called Golden Leaf and not by them.

History of Rooh Afza

Hamdard, a unani medicine store in Old Delhi, was established by Hakeem Abdul Majeed in 1906 during the period of British colonial rule. The partition has left its mark on the history of Rooh Afza; Hakeem’s eldest son remained in Delhi while his younger son immigrated to Pakistan and established the Hamdard company there.

At the time Rooh Afza was first introduced, there was no standard packaging strategy. The first part of the bottle’s history, according to the Hamdard website, stated that “Used bottles of wines of any size, colour and shape which could be available were used for syrups. Rooh Afza is the first sharbat for which white bottles of uniform size (750ml.) and almost of the same shape, which were called ‘pole ’ bottles, were obtained.”

The name “Rooh Afza,” according to the Hamdard Laboratories website, was inspired by a character in the book Masnavi Gulzar-e-Nasim. It was written by Pandit Deya Shankar Nasim and first appeared in 1254.

The author claims that “Rooh Afza” was the daughter of the king of Firdaus (Heaven). Rooh Afza is known as the “Summer drink of the East” in Pakistan and is inextricably linked to the nation’s nationalistic spirit. In the years since its founding in 1906, Rooh Afza has also undergone a process of diversification.

When Rooh Afza was first developed, it was used to treat dehydration and heat stroke. “One that enhances the spirit and uplifts the soul” is what Rooh Afza means in Urdu. 

Further, Mirza Noor Ahmad created the iconic Rooh Afza artwork that adorns the front of the slim bottle. Whereas, the Bolton Press of the Parsees of Bombay printed the illustration under special permission.