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Key facts
- Haji Ajmal AliThe founder, from a family of rice farmers in Assam, India.
- OudThe trade he had heard could support a family.
- 1951He moves to Mumbai and opens his first shop.
- Rs 500His seed capital, in the house's own telling.
- Crawford MarketThe Mumbai market, on Nagdevi Street, where the first shop stood.
- 2026Ajmal Perfumes rebrands as Ajmal Dubai.
Who founded Ajmal Perfumes?
The late Haji Ajmal Ali. The house's own About Us page says he was born into a family of rice farmers from a small village in Hojai, Assam, and realised at a very young age that farming would not be enough to support himself and his family. He had heard that the oud trade could be a handsome breadwinner, and decided to chance his fate with the forest.
Where was the first Ajmal shop?
In Mumbai. Ajmal says that in 1951 he moved to the city with just Rs 500 as his seed capital and set up his first shop on Nagdevi Street in Crawford Market. The trade publication The Moodie Davitt Report likewise says the house was founded by Haji Ajmal Ali in Assam, India, in the early 1950s. Every account puts the beginning in India: the Mumbai shop came first, and anything in Dubai came after it.
Why is Ajmal now called Ajmal Dubai?
Campaign Middle East reported on 3 March 2026 that Ajmal Perfumes had rebranded as Ajmal Dubai, incorporating the name of the city into its identity as it approaches its 75th anniversary. Its chief executive said Ajmal has always been rooted in the Middle East and that Dubai has played an integral role in shaping who the house is today. Khaleej Times carried the same announcement on 27 February 2026.
Sources
Primary sources only. Every statement on this page restates one of them, read by the Fragnatique team.
