Asadullah Khan Ghalib
Asadullah Khan Ghalib, born on December 27, 1797, in Agra, India, is celebrated as a preeminent Urdu and Persian poet of the Mughal Empire. Orphaned at a young age, Ghalib displayed intellectual prowess despite the lack of formal education, becoming well-versed in philosophy, literature, and history. His poetry, primarily in Urdu, features the ghazal form, expressing themes of love, life, and the human experience, solidifying his status as both a classic and modern poet. Ghalib's body of work includes significant compositions completed by 1816, showcasing his mastery in creating poignant reflections on existence.
Throughout his life, Ghalib experienced financial ups and downs, receiving annuities from the Mughal court and later relying on a stipend from the governor of Rampur. His personal life was marked by a distant marriage and the loss of his adopted child, which deeply influenced his poetry. Ghalib's perspectives on the British colonial rule emerged through his writings, including his diary "Dastanbu" and letters, where he voiced his discontent with the violence surrounding the 1857 Indian Revolt. He passed away on February 15, 1869, leaving behind a rich literary legacy that continues to resonate in South Asian culture.
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Asadullah Khan Ghalib
Poet
- Born: December 27, 1797
- Birthplace: Akbarabad (now Agra), India
- Died: February 15, 1869
- Place of death: Delhi, India
Biography
Mirza Muhammad Asadullah Beg Khan, later known as Hsadullah Khan Ghalib, was born to parents of aristocratic Turkish ancestry in Akbarabad, India (the present-day city of Agra), in 1797. His father, Agdullah Beg Khan, and his uncle, Nasrullah Beg Khan, were high-ranking Indian army officers. Around the age of five, Mirza Khan was orphaned and spent his early childhood with his mother’s family. He was a precocious, independent young man, who hoped for a comfortable means of livelihood when he grew up. Although there is little record of his formal education, Khan became knowledgeable in many areas, including philosophy, ethics, theology, classical literature, grammar, and history.
Around 1810, at the young age of thirteen, Khan married the daughter of Moghul nobleman Hahi Bassh Maaroof and moved to Delhi. Khan never treated his marriage very seriously. After mastering Farsi, Khan concentrated his time and efforts on writing poetry. Although he received annuities from the Moghul court and lived rather comfortably, Khan was never very rich.
After writing some Farsi poetry, Khan switched to writing in Urdu, a vernacular combination of Arabic and the native Indian language. By 1816, a large portion of his most important works were completed. Khan was the master of the ghazal, a Urdu poetic form that deals with love, life, friendship, and romance, and the qasida, Urdu poetry written in praise of a king or nobleman. Sometimes referred to as the last great classical poet and the first modern poet of Urdu literature, his followers called him “Ghalib,” which means superior.
During the 1820’s, Ghalib drifted away from Urdu poetry and returned to writing Farsi poetry. Occasionally, he would publish new editions of his previously written Urdu poetry. Between 1828 and 1829, he traveled to Calcutta, where he was highly impressed with the prosperity and cleanliness generated by the Western influence of the British. Around 1847, Ghalib gained more access to the Moghul court. For the next decade, he again concentrated on writing Urdu poetry. He wrote many ghazals, which were as good or better than some of his earlier Urdu poetry. Much of his Urdu poetry contains reflections on the human journey from being nothing to becoming a complete human being. Although Ghalib never developed a close relationship with his wife, they adopted two children. When one of them died in 1852, Ghalib composed an Urdu poem about the tragedy.
During the 1850’s, Ghalib was appointed by the Moghul court to write an official history of the Moghul empire. He only completed one of the two proposed volumes due to the Indian Revolt of 1857 against the British occupation of India. Ghalib expressed his attitude toward the British in his published diary, Dastanbu. He presented copies of it to British authorities to show his disapproval for the brutality administered by the British to participants and sympathizers of the 1857 Revolt. His first published letters, Ud-i-Hindi, voiced some of his great dissatisfaction with the British violence. During the last few years of his life, the main source of Ghalib’s income was a stipend from the governor of Rampur.