Mirza Ghalib
Introduction
Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan pen-name Ghalib and (former pen-name) Asad (27 December 1796[1] — 15 February 1869), was a great classical Urdu and Persian poet of India. He was born in Agra, the former capital of the Mughal Empire, now part of India's state of Uttar Pradesh during the terminal period of Mughal rule. During his lifetime the Mughals were eclipsed and displaced by the British and finally deposed following the defeat of the Indian rebellion of 1857, events that he wrote of.Most notably, he wrote several ghazals during his life, which have since been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people. He is considered[by whom?] to be the most popular and influential poet of the Urdu language. Ghalib today remains popular amongst Urdu speakers not only in India and Pakistan but also amongst diaspora communities around the world.
Life
Mirza Asadullah Beg -- known to posterity as Ghalib, a nom de plume he adopted in the tradition of all classical Urdu poets, was born on December 27, 1797 at Kala Mahal, in the city of Agra [4], of parents with Turkish aristocratic ancestry. When he was only five years old, his father, Abdullah Beg Khan died in a battle while working under Rao Raja Bakhtwar Singh of Alwar and his uncle Nasrullah Beg Khan took charge of him. But he lost his uncle also at the tender age of eight[5].
The death of his father and uncle during his early youth left Ghalib with no male-dominant figures. He then moved to Delhi.
Ghalib's early education has always been a matter of confusion. There are no known records of his formal education, although it was known that his circle of friends in Delhi had some of the most intelligent minds of the time.
Around 1810, he was married into a family of Umrao Begum, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh Khan of Loharu' (younger brother of the first Nawab of Loharu, Nawab Mirza Ahmad Baksh Khan [6], at the age of thirteen. He had seven children, none of whom survived (this pain has found its echo in some of Ghalib's ghazals). There are conflicting reports regarding his relationship with his wife. She was considered to be pious, conservative and God-fearing while Ghalib was carefree, unconventional, and arguably, not very religious in the strict sense of the word.
Ghalib never worked as such for a livelihood. He lived on either state patronage, credit or the generosity of his friends. His fame came to him posthumously. He had himself remarked during his lifetime that although his age had ignored his greatness, it would be recognized by later generations. History has vindicated his claim. He also is arguably the most "written about" of all Urdu poets.
He died in Delhi on February 15, 1869.
The house where he lived in Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, in old Delhi, has now been turned into 'Ghalib Memorial' and houses a permanent exhibition on him.
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