| Urdu poet Mirza Asad ullah Khan Ghalib British India 1797-1869 |
Ghalib was the pen name of Mirza Asad Ullah Khan. He was court poet to the last Mughal Emperor in Delhi.
Mirza Ghalib was born in Agra to a Turkish family that had originally relocated to Samarkand to avoid political upheaval in Turkey. His grandfather then moved to India in the late 1700s. His family became a military family, his grandfather, father and uncles all serving as officers in the Indian army. Ghalib's father was killed in battle when Ghalib was just a boy; he was subsequently raised by his uncle and other distant relatives.
Ghalib was married at a young age, apparently not a happy marriage, and all seven of his children died in infancy. These terrible sorrows seem to have inspired his interior exploration, through doubts and grief, but also to moments of profound clarity and artistic beauty.
Ghalib's life bridged several cultures, traditions, languages, and social structures. He is called the last of India's classical poets, and the first of the moderns. He was of Turkish descent, but an Indian poet. He was a court poet who often wrote in the courtly language of Persian, but he is best known for his couplets written in the popular local tongue of Urdu. He wrote at the end of the Mughal Empire and the beginning of British rule in India. His poetry spoke to Muslims and Hindus alike. His willingness to wrestle with modern doubts in his writing have caused some to call him an atheist, while his mystical love poetry makes him a favorite of Sufis.
Mirza Ghalib was born in Agra to a Turkish family that had originally relocated to Samarkand to avoid political upheaval in Turkey. His grandfather then moved to India in the late 1700s. His family became a military family, his grandfather, father and uncles all serving as officers in the Indian army. Ghalib's father was killed in battle when Ghalib was just a boy; he was subsequently raised by his uncle and other distant relatives.
Ghalib was married at a young age, apparently not a happy marriage, and all seven of his children died in infancy. These terrible sorrows seem to have inspired his interior exploration, through doubts and grief, but also to moments of profound clarity and artistic beauty.
Ghalib's life bridged several cultures, traditions, languages, and social structures. He is called the last of India's classical poets, and the first of the moderns. He was of Turkish descent, but an Indian poet. He was a court poet who often wrote in the courtly language of Persian, but he is best known for his couplets written in the popular local tongue of Urdu. He wrote at the end of the Mughal Empire and the beginning of British rule in India. His poetry spoke to Muslims and Hindus alike. His willingness to wrestle with modern doubts in his writing have caused some to call him an atheist, while his mystical love poetry makes him a favorite of Sufis.
