Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan (Urdu/Persian: مرزا اسد اللہ بیگ خان)
was a classical Urdu and Persian poet from India during British colonial
rule. His also known as 'Mirza Asadullah Khan Galib', 'Mirza Galib',
'Dabir-ul-Mulk' and 'Najm-ud-Daula'. His pen-names was Ghaliband Asad or
Asad or Galib. 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,
in South Asia, to be one of the most popular and influential poets of
the Urdu language. Ghalib today remains popular not only in India and
Pakistan but also amongst diaspora communities around the world.
Family and Early Life
Mirza Ghalib was born in Agra into a family descended from Aibak
Turks who moved to Samarkand after the downfall of the Seljuk kings. His
paternal grandfather, Mirza Qoqan Baig Khan was a Saljuq Turk who had
immigrated to India from Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan) during the reign
of Ahmad Shah (1748–54). He worked at Lahore, Delhi and Jaipur, was
awarded the subdistrict of Pahasu (Bulandshahr, UP) and finally settled
in Agra, UP, India. He had 4 sons and 3 daughters. Mirza Abdullah Baig
Khan and Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan were two of his sons. Mirza Abdullah
Baig Khan (Ghalib's father) got married to Izzat-ut-Nisa Begum, and then
lived at the house of his father in law. He was employed first by the
Nawab of Lucknow and then the Nizam of Hyderabad, Deccan. He died in a
battle in 1803 in Alwar and was buried at Rajgarh (Alwar, Rajasthan).
Then Ghalib was a little over 5 years of age. He was raised first by his
Uncle Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan. Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan (Ghalib's
uncle) started taking care of the three orphaned children. He was the
governor of Agra under the Marathas. The British appointed him an
officer of 400 cavalrymen, fixed his salary at Rs.1700.00 month, and
awarded him 2 parganas in Mathura (UP, India). When he died in 1806, the
British took away the parganas and fixed his pension as Rs. 10,000 per
year, linked to the state of Firozepur Jhirka (Mewat, Haryana). The
Nawab of Ferozepur Jhirka reduced the pension to Rs. 3000 per year.
Ghalib's share was Rs. 62.50 / month. Ghalib was married at age 13 to
Umrao Begum, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh (brother of the Nawab of
Ferozepur Jhirka). He soon moved to Delhi, along with his younger
brother, Mirza Yousuf Khan, who had developed schizophrenia at a young
age and later died in Delhi during the chaos of 1857.
In accordance with upper class Muslim tradition, he had an arranged
marriage at the age of 13, but none of his seven children survived
beyond infancy. After his marriage he settled in Delhi. In one of his
letters he describes his marriage as the second imprisonment after the
initial confinement that was life itself. The idea that life is one
continuous painful struggle which can end only when life itself ends, is
a recurring theme in his poetry. One of his couplets puts it in a
nutshell:
"The prison of life and the bondage of grief are one and the same
Before the onset of death, how can man expect to be free of grief?"
Royal Titles
In 1850, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II revived upon Mirza Ghalib the
title of "Dabeer-ul-Mulk". The Emperor also added to it the additional
title of Najm-ud-daulah.The conferment of these titles was symbolic of
Mirza Ghalib’s incorporation into the nobility of Delhi. He also
received the title of 'Mirza Nosha' by the emperor, thus adding Mirza as
his first name. He was also an important courtier of the royal court of
the Emperor. As the Emperor was himself a poet, Mirza Ghalib was
appointed as his poet tutor in 1854. He was also appointed as tutor of
Prince Fakhr-ud Din Mirza, eldest son of Bahadur Shah II,(d. 10 July
1856). He was also appointed by the Emperor as the royal historian of
Mughal Court.
Being a member of declining Mughal nobility and old landed
aristocracy, he never worked for a livelihood, lived on either royal
patronage of Mughal Emperors, 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. After the decline of Mughal Empire and
rise of British Raj, despite his many attempts, Ghalib could never get
the full pension restored.
Poetry Career
Ghalib started composing poetry at the age of 11. His first
language was Urdu, but Persian and Turkish were also spoken at home. He
got his education in Persian and Arabic at a young age. When Ghalib was
in his early teens, a newly converted Muslim tourist from Iran (Abdus
Samad, originally named Hormuzd, a Zoroastrian) came to Agra. He stayed
at Ghalibs home for 2 years. He was a highly educated individual and
Ghalib learned Persian, Arabic, philosophy, and logic from him.
Although Ghalib himself was far prouder of his poetic achievements
in Persian, he is today more famous for his Urdu ghazals. Numerous
elucidations of Ghalib's ghazal compilations have been written by Urdu
scholars. The first such elucidation or Sharh was written by Ali Haider
Nazm Tabatabai of Hyderabad during the rule of the last Nizam of
Hyderabad. Before Ghalib, the ghazal was primarily an expression of
anguished love; but Ghalib expressed philosophy, the travails and
mysteries of life and wrote ghazals on many other subjects, vastly
expanding the scope of the ghazal. This work is considered his paramount
contribution to Urdu poetry and literature.
In keeping with the conventions of the classical ghazal, in most of
Ghalib's verses, the identity and the gender of the beloved is
indeterminate. The critic/poet/writer Shamsur Rahman Faruqui explains
that the convention of having the "idea" of a lover or beloved instead
of an actual lover/beloved freed the poet-protagonist-lover from the
demands of realism. Love poetry in Urdu from the last quarter of the
seventeenth century onwards consists mostly of "poems about love" and
not "love poems" in the Western sense of the term.
The first complete English translation of Ghalib's ghazals was
written by Sarfaraz K. Niazi and published by Rupa & Co in India and
Ferozsons in Pakistan. The title of this book is Love Sonnets of Ghalib
and it contains complete Roman transliteration, explication and an
extensive lexicon.
His Letters
Mirza Ghalib was a gifted letter writer. Not only Urdu poetry but
the prose is also indebted to Mirza Ghalib. His letters gave foundation
to easy and popular Urdu. Before Ghalib, letter writing in Urdu was
highly ornamental. He made his letters "talk" by using words and
sentences as if he were conversing with the reader. According to him Sau
kos se ba-zaban-e-qalam baatein kiya karo aur hijr mein visaal ke maze
liya karo (from hundred of miles talk with the tongue of the pen and
enjoy the joy of meeting even when you are separated). His letters were
very informal, some times he would just write the name of the person and
start the letter. He himself was very humorous and also made his letter
very interesting. He said Main koshish karta hoon keh koi aesi baat
likhoon jo parhay khoosh ho jaaye (I want to write the lines that
whoever reads those should enjoy it). When the third wife of one of his
friends died, he wrote. Some scholar says that Ghalib would have the
same place in Urdu literature if only on the basis of his letters. They
have been translated into English by Ralph Russell, The Oxford Ghalib.
Ghalib was a chronicler of this turbulent period. One by one, Ghalib
saw the bazaars – Khas Bazaar, Urdu Bazaar, Kharam-ka Bazaar,
disappear, whole mohallas (localities) and katras (lanes) vanish. The
havelis (mansions) of his friends were razed to the ground. Ghalib wrote
that Delhi had become a desert. Water was scarce. Delhi was now “ a
military camp”. It was the end of the feudal elite to which Ghalib had
belonged. He wrote:
“An ocean of blood churns around me-
Alas! Were these all!
The future will show
What more remains for me to see”.
His Pen Name
His original Takhallus (pen-name) was Asad, drawn from his given
name, Asadullah Khan. At some point early in his poetic career he also
decided to adopt the Takhallus Ghalib (meaning all conquering, superior,
most excellent).
Popular legend has it that he changed his pen name to 'Ghalib'
when he came across this sher (couplet) by another poet who used the
takhallus (pen name) 'Asad':
The legend says that upon hearing this couplet, Ghalib ruefully
exclaimed, "whoever authored this couplet does indeed deserve the Lord's
rahmat (mercy) (for having composed such a deplorable specimen of Urdu
poetry). If I use the takhallus Asad, then surely (people will mistake
this couplet to be mine and) there will be much la'anat (curse) on me!"
And, saying so, he changed his takhallus to 'Ghalib'.
However, this legend is little more than a figment of the
legend-creator's imagination. Extensive research performed by
commentators and scholars of Ghalib's works, notably Imtiyaz Ali Arshi
and Kalidas Gupta Raza, has succeeded in identifying the chronology of
Ghalib's published work (sometimes down to the exact calendar day!).
Although the takhallus 'Asad' appears more infrequently in Ghalib's work
than 'Ghalib', it appears that he did use both his noms de plume
interchangeably throughout his career and did not seem to prefer either
one over the other.
Mirza Ghalib and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
1855, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan finished his highly scholarly, very well
researched and illustrated edition of Abul Fazl’s Ai’n-e Akbari, itself
an extraordinarily difficult book. Having finished the work to his
satisfaction, and believing that Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib was a
person who would appreciate his labours, Syed Ahmad approached the great
Ghalib to write a taqriz (in the convention of the times, a laudatory
foreword) for it. Ghalib obliged, but what he did produce 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. The least that could be said against it was that the book
had little value even as an antique document. Ghalib practically
reprimanded Syed Ahmad Khan for wasting his talents and time on dead
things. Worse, he praised sky-high the “Sahibs of England” who at that
time held all the keys to all the a’ins in this world.
This poem is often referred to but has never translated in English. Shamsur Rahman Faruqi wrote an English translation.
The poem was unexpected, but it came at the time when Syed Ahmad
Khan’s thought and feelings themselves were inclining toward change.
Ghalib seemed to be acutely aware of a European[English]-sponsored
change in world polity, especially Indian polity. Syed Ahmad might well
have been piqued at Ghalib’s admonitions, but he would also have
realized that Ghalib’s reading of the situation, though not nuanced
enough, was basically accurate. Syed Ahmad Khan may also have felt that
he, being better informed about the English and the outside world,
should have himself seen the change that now seemed to be just round the
corner. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan never again wrote a word in praise of the
Ai’n-e Akbari and in fact gave up taking active interest in history and
archaeology, and became a social reformer.
Personal Life
Mirza was born in Kala Mahal in Agra. In the end of 18th century,
his birthplace was converted into Indrabhan Girls' Inter College. The
birth room of Mirza Ghalib is preserved within the school. Around 1810,
he was married to Umrao Begum, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh Khan of
Loharu (younger brother of the first Nawab of Loharu, Nawab Mirza Ahmad
Baksh Khan, 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. Ghalib
was proud of his reputation as a rake. He was once imprisoned for
gambling and subsequently relished the affair with pride. In the Mughal
court circles, he even acquired a reputation as a "ladies man". Once,
when someone praised the poetry of the pious Sheikh Sahbai in his
presence, Ghalib immediately retorted:
“How can Sahbai be a poet? He has never tasted wine, nor has he
ever gambled; he has not been beaten with slippers by lovers, nor has he
ever seen the inside of a jail."
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 Ghalib exhibition.
Religious Views
Ghalib was a very liberal mystic who believed that the search for
God within liberated the seeker from the narrowly Orthodox Islam,
encouraging the devotee to look beyond the letter of the law to its
narrow essence. His Sufi views and mysticism is greatly reflected in his
poems and ghazals. As he once stated:
“The object of my worship lies beyond perception's reach;
For men who see, the Ka'aba is a compass, nothing more."
Like many other Urdu poets, Ghalib was capable of writing
profoundly religious poetry, yet was skeptical about the literalist
interpretation of the Islamic scriptures. On the Islamic view and claims
of paradise, he once wrote in a letter to a friend:
“In paradise it is true that I shall drink at dawn the pure wine
mentioned in the Qu'ran, but where in paradise are the long walks with
intoxicated friends in the night, or the drunken crowds shouting
merrily? Where shall I find there the intoxication of Monsoon clouds?
Where there is no autumn, how can spring exist? If the beautiful houris
are always there, where will be the sadness of separation and the joy of
union? Where shall we find there a girl who flees away when we would
kiss her?”
He staunchly disdained the Orthodox Muslim Sheikhs of the Ulema,
who in his poems always represent narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy:
“The Sheikh hovers by the tavern door,
but believe me, Ghalib,
I am sure I saw him slip in
As I departed."
In another verse directed towards the Muslim maulavis (clerics),
he criticized them for their ignorance and arrogant certitude: "Look
deeper, it is you alone who cannot hear the music of his secrets". In
his letters, Ghalib frequently contrasted the narrow legalism of the
Ulema with "it's pre-occupation with teaching the baniyas and the brats,
and wallowing in the problems of menstruation and menstrual bleeding"
and real spirituality for which you had to "study the works of the
mystics and take into one's heart the essential truth of God's reality
and his expression in all things".
Ghalib believed that if God laid within and could be reached less
by ritual than by love, then he was as accessible to Hindus as to
Muslims. As a testament to this, he would later playfully write in a
letter that during a trip to Benares, he was half tempted to settle down
there for good and that he wished he had renounced Islam, put a Hindu
sectarian mark on his forehead, tied a sectarian thread around his waist
and seated himself on the banks of the Ganges so that he could wash the
contamination of his existence away from himself and like a drop be one
with the river.
During the anti-British Rebellion in Delhi on 5 October 1857,
three weeks after the British troops had entered through Kashmiri Gate,
some soldiers climbed into Ghalib's neighbourhood and hauled him off to
Colonel Burn for questioning. He appeared in front of the colonel
wearing a Turkish style headdress. The colonel, bemused at his
appearance, inquired in broken Urdu, "Well? You Muslim?", to which
Ghalib replied, "Half?" The colonel asked, "What does that mean?" In
response, Ghalib said, "I drink wine, but I don't eat pork."
Views on Hindustan
In his poem "Chirag-i-Dair" (Temple lamps) which was composed
during his trip to Benaras during the spring of 1827, Ghalib mused about
the land of Hindustan (the Indian subcontinent) and how Qiyamah
(Doomsday) has failed to arrive, in spite of the numerous conflicts
plaguing it.
“Said I one night to a pristine seer
(Who knew the secrets of whirling time)
"Sir, you well perceive
That goodness and faith,
Fidelity and love
Have all departed from this sorry land
Father and son are at each other's throat;
Brother fights brother, Unity and federation are undermined
Despite all these ominous signs, Why has not Doomsday come?
Who holds the reins of the Final Catastrophe?
The hoary old man of lucent ken
Pointed towards Kashi and gently smiled
"The Architect", he said, "is fond of this edifice
Because of which there is color in life; He
Would not like it to perish and fall."
Contemporaries and Disciples
Ghalib's closest rival was poet Zauq, tutor of Bahadur Shah Zafar
II, the then emperor of India with his seat in Delhi. There are some
amusing anecdotes of the competition between Ghalib and Zauq and
exchange of jibes between them. However, there was mutual respect for
each other's talent. Both also admired and acknowledged the supremacy of
Meer Taqi Meer, a towering figure of 18th century Urdu Poetry. Another
poet Momin, whose ghazals had a distinctly lyrical flavour, was also a
famous contemporary of Ghalib. Ghalib was not only a poet, he was also a
prolific prose writer. His letters are a reflection of the political
and social climate of the time. They also refer to many contemporaries
like Mir Mehdi Majrooh, who himself was a good poet and Ghalib's
life-long acquaintance.
Mirza Ghalib's Works:Urdu Letters of Mirza Asadullah Khan Galib, Translated by Daud Rahbar, SUNY Press, 1987.
