57 Facts About Ghalib

Mirza Beg Asadullah Khan, known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet.

Ghalib was popularly known by the pen names Ghalib and Asad.

Today, Ghalib remains popular not only in the Indian subcontinent but among the Hindustani diaspora around the world.

Mirza Ghalib was born in Kala Mahal, Agra into a family of Mughals who moved to Samarkand after the downfall of the Seljuk kings.

Ghalib's paternal grandfather, Mirza Qoqan Baig, was a Seljuq Turk who had immigrated to India from Samarkand during the reign of Ahmad Shah.

Ghalib worked in Lahore, Delhi and Jaipur, was awarded the sub-district of Pahasu and finally settled in Agra, UP, India.

Ghalib was employed first by the Nawab of Lucknow and then the Nizam of Hyderabad, Deccan.

Ghalib died in a battle in 1803 in Alwar and was buried at Rajgarh, when Ghalib was a little over 5 years old.

Ghalib was then raised by his Uncle Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan, but in 1806, Nasrullah fell off an elephant and died from related injuries.

In 1810, at the age of thirteen, Ghalib married Umrao Begum, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh.

Ghalib soon moved to Delhi, along with his younger brother, Mirza Yousuf, who had developed schizophrenia at a young age and later died in Delhi during the chaos of 1857.

Ghalib received the title of Mirza Nosha from the Emperor, thus enabling him to add Mirza to his name.

Ghalib was an important courtier of the royal court of the Emperor.

Ghalib was appointed by the Emperor as the royal historian of the Mughal Court.

Ghalib had himself remarked during his lifetime that he would be recognized by later generations.

Ghalib received an education in Persian and Arabic at a young age.

When Ghalib was 14 years old a newly converted Muslim tourist from Iran came to Agra.

Ghalib stayed at Ghalib's home for two years and taught him Persian, Arabic, philosophy, and logic.

Ghalib has been described as having been concerned about receiving pensions more so than building an estate or engaging in commerce.

Ghalib was paid a monthly salary of 62 rupees and 8 annas from his uncle's government pension until 1827.

Ghalib travelled to Calcutta and presented a petition to the Governor-General to keep receiving money from this pension.

Ghalib made his letters "talk" by using words and sentences as if he were conversing with the reader.

Ghalib's letters were very informal; sometimes he would just write the name of the person and start the letter.

Some scholars say that Ghalib would have the same place in Urdu literature based on his letters only.

Ghalib was kept under strict supervision by the British along with his visitors including Ghalib as they grew suspicious of him.

Mirza Ghalib came to the city of joy and fell in love.

Ghalib used to write his verses in Urdu but started writing his poetry in Persian after this visit.

Ghalib realized that the literary circle of Calcutta was very different from his known world.

Ghalib established himself as one of the renowned poets in Calcutta and received both appreciation and criticism from the enlightened audience of the city.

Ghalib's letters bear a testimony of his tale of love with Calcutta.

Ghalib referred to the city as a place which offered a remedy for everything except death and praised the talented people of the city.

Ghalib obliged, but what he produced was a short Persian poem castigating the Ai'n-e Akbari and, by implication, the imperial, sumptuous, literate and learned Mughal culture of which it was a product.

Ghalib practically reprimanded Khan for wasting his talents and time on dead things.

Ghalib seemed to be acutely aware of a European[English]-sponsored change in world polity, especially Indian polity.

Ghalib placed a greater emphasis on seeking of God rather than ritualistic religious practices; although he followed Shia theology and had said many verses in praise of Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Ghalib staunchly disdained the practices of certain Ulema, who in his poems represent narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy:.

What's the relation between the Preacher and the door of the tavern, but believe me, Ghalib, I am sure I saw him slip in as I departed.

Ghalib appeared in front of the colonel wearing a Central Asian Turkic style headdress.

Ghalib described himself as a sinner who should be silent before Muhammad as he was not worthy of addressing him, who was praised by God.

Ghalib held Persian in high regard, and his knowledge of the language was a point of pride for him.

Ghalib believed his compositions in Persian were superior to those in Urdu, and hoped readers would evaluate him by the former:.

Ghalib's first published work in the language was a collection of poems titled May-kana-ye arzu, released in 1845.

Ghalib created prose works, such as Panj ahang, initially published in 1849.

In 2010, Maulana Azad National Urdu University published a compilation of 11,337 poems by Ghalib titled "Kulliyat-e-Ghalib Farsi".

Ghalib was not only a poet, he was a prolific prose writer.

Ghalib's letters are a reflection of the political and social climate of the time.

Ghalib sometimes made the sentence syntax so complex that people had difficulty in understanding them.

Once, Hakeem Agha Jaan Aish aka Aish Dehlvi, a poet of Ghalib's era, read a couplet in a Mushaira mocking Ghalib:.

In prose Ghalib brought a revolution in Urdu literature by developing an easy, simple and beautiful way of writing.

Ghalib was buried in Hazrat Nizamuddin near the tomb of Nizamuddin Auliya.

The side view of Mazar-e-Ghalib is shown in the image.

Ghalib is often famous for his unique and peculiar style of poetry.

The house where he lived in Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, in Old Delhi known as the Ghalib ki Haveli is a museum dedicated to him.

Ghalib's life is the subject of hundreds of plays regularly performed in Northern India and Pakistan.

Ghalib's character lacked subtlety and he was shown philandering with the courtesan, Chaudvin, famously played by Punjabi singer Madan Bala Sandhu.

Qaid-e-Hayat, written by Surendra Verma, talks about the personal life of the poet Ghalib, including his financial hardships and his tragic love for Katiba, a woman calligraphist, who was working on his diwan.

Ghalib was commemorated on his 220th birth anniversary by Search Engine Google which showed a special doodle on its Indian home page for him on 27 December 2017.