Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed, the man who founded Hamdard, founded Rooh Afza. He set out to make a herbal mix in 1906 that would benefit Delhi residents in keeping cool throughout the summer. He made a drink combining traditional Unani herbs and syrups that would help individuals avoid heat strokes and stop their bodies from losing water.
In 1910, an artist named Mirza Noor Ahmad created the colourful labels for Rooh Afza. Up until the production of the final drink, the original formula was continually developed and improved.
Following the partition of India in 1947, while the elder son, Hakim Abdul Hameed, stayed back in India. The younger son, Hakim Mohammad Said, migrated to Pakistan on January 9, 1948, and started a separate Hamdard Company from two rooms in the old Arambagh area of Karachi.
Hamdard Pakistan finally became profitable in 1953. Hakim Mohammad Said had opened a branch of Hamdard in the former East Pakistan. According to Hakim Mohammad Said’s daughter, Sadia Rashid, chairperson of Hamdard Pakistan in 2019, her father gifted the business to the people of Bangladesh after their independence in 1971.
