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A Timeline of Ghalib’s Life Pulled together from various sources with the help of S. R. Faruqi and Mehr Farooqi. Chief among these sources was an Urdu timeline: from Kalidas Gupta Raza’s 1995 divan edition. The other main source was Kazim 'Ali Khan, tauqiit-e ;Gaalib (New Delhi: Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu, 1999). For comparison, here’s a dating chart for Ghalib’s Urdu ghazals. |
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1750’s == G’s grandfather
Mirza
Quqan Beg Khan comes to India from Samarqand, settles in
Lahore mid-1754 == Mirza Quqan Beg Khan moves to Delhi mid-1756 == Mirza Quqan Beg
Khan takes
service with the prince Shah Alam 1763? == Mirza Quqan Beg
Khan marries 1765? == G’s father Abdullah Beg Khan is born, in Delhi 1767-80 == five other children are born to Mirza Quqan
Beg
Khan, including G’s uncle
Nasrullah Beg Khan mid-1771 == Mirza Quqan Beg
Khan takes service with Zulfiqar
ud-Daulah 1782? == Mirza Quqan Beg Khan
takes service with the Maharajah of Jaipur
and settles in Agra mid-1778 == Mirza Quqan Beg
Khan dies 1793? == G’s father Abdullah Beg Khan marries 'Izzat
un-Nisa
Begam 1795 == Abdullah Beg Khan’s first child, Chhoti Khanam,
is born before 1797, Sept. 21 == Abdullah
Beg
Khan takes service with Asif ud-Daulah
in Lucknow 1797, Sept. 21 == Asif ud-Daulah dies 1797, Dec. 27 == Asadullah Khan is born, Agra; or *a year
or two earlier*? later 1799 == G’s younger brother Yusuf 'Ali Khan is
born before 1802 == Abdullah Beg
Khan takes service with the Maharajah of
Alwar 1802 == Abdullah Beg Khan
dies, is
buried at Rajgarh in Alwar; his
younger brother Nasrullah Beg Khan takes charge of the
widow and
children; Nasrullah Beg Khan
is married to the sister of Ahmad Bakhsh Khan, Navab of
Firozpur Jhirka and Loharu (marriage date unknown) 1803 == Nasrullah Beg Khan
is the commander of Agra Fort, under the Marathas 1803 == Nasrullah Beg Khan
changes sides, makes over the fort to Lord Lake;
is appointed commander of 400 cavalry at a salary of Rs.
1,700 per month 1806, April? == Nasrullah
Beg Khan dies in a fall from an elephant 1806, May 4 == his survivors,
including equally Nasrullah Beg Khan’s mother and three
sisters, and
G and his
sister and brother, are granted a pension of Rs.10,000
annually, to be
paid from the revenues of Ahmad Bakhsh Khan’s estate
(who was probably
granted some of Nasrullah Beg Khan’s property) 1806, June 7== the grant is
reduced
by Ahmad Bakhsh Khan to Rs. 5,000; the other half is
granted to one
Khvajah Haji 1807-08? ==
Nazir Akbarabadi
is alleged (probably not accurately) to have
been G’s tutor for a time in
this period; G begins writing
poetry, using ‘Asad’; his
famous
short masnavi
about kite-flying has been attributed
by Hali to this period 1810 == G is said to have attended the maktab of Maulvi Muhammad Mu'azzam, Agra 1810, Aug. 18/19 == G is married in Delhi to Umra'o Begam (age 11), daughter of Navab Ilahi Bakhsh Khan 'Ma'ruf', younger brother of Navab Ahmad Bakhsh Khan of Firozpur Jhirka and Loharu; none of the seven children they have together lives beyond infancy 1811 == A Persian convert to Islam formerly called Hurmuzd (now Abdus Samad) allegedly (though quite possibly not in reality) arrives from Iran, stays 2 years as G’s Persian tutor, teaches him the Persian of a native speaker 1812/3 == G moves to Delhi permanently; lives for a while with his father-in-law, then moves to a rented house in Gali Qasim Jan c.1816 == G compiles
his first Urdu divan, which is now known
as the nus;xah-e
amrohah or the nus;xah-e
bhopaal . The original manuscript has since
disappeared, but printed editions of it exist, one by
Akbar Ali Khan
Arshizadah (Rampur, 1969), one by Nisar Ahmad Faruqi
(Lahore, 1969) 1816 == G adopts ‘Ghalib’ as
his takhallus in addition to (not instead of) ‘Asad’ c. 1821 == G compiles the
second version of his Urdu divan, which is now known as
the nus;xah-e ;hamiidiyah. This
manuscript was
printed first in 1921, edited by Mufti
Anvaar ul-Haq of Bhopal with the
famous unfinished preface by Abdur Rahman Bijnori; and
again
much later (1970’s) in facsimile editions from Lucknow
and Lahore. The original is reported to have
disappeared from the State Library in Bhopal in 1947,
and has recently
been reported by S. R. Faruqi to have resurfaced.
This
version
contains
most
(though not all) of the ghazals from 1816,
and many new ones. The present
whereabouts of this divan are not known. 1825 == G compiles the third
version of his Urdu divan, which is now known as the nus;xah-e
sheraanii ; this manuscript, discovered by Haafiz
Mahmud Sherani,
is now in Punjab University, Lahore; it was published by
Punjab
University in a facsimile edition, 1969. This version
contains most
(though not all) of the ghazals from 1821, and many new
ones. 1825 ==
Khvajah Haji dies; G begins seeking restoration of the
full pension; he
goes to Firozpur Jhirka to talk with Navab Ahmad Bakhsh
Khan and
General Ochterlony 1825, Nov. == G makes a
second fruitless visit to Firozpur Jhirka, hoping in
vain to meet Ochterlony’s
successor Metcalf through
Ahmad Bakhsh Khan and improve his pension situation; he
goes to
Bharatpur with Ahmad Bakhsh Khan and Metcalf, returns
with Ahmad Bakhsh
Khan to Jhirka in Dec. and
stays till Sept. 1826 1826, early
Oct. == G
leaves Firozpur for Kanpur, where Metcalf is reported to
be encamped, but is unable to meet with
Metcalf; he falls ill, and upon his recovery proceeds to
Lucknow. There he imposes excessive conditions for
meeting the Navab,
and thus doesn’t meet him; he again
falls
ill 1826, Aug./Dec. == G’s father-in-law Ilahi Bakhsh Khan Ma'ruf dies; G’s younger brother Mirza Yusuf goes mad 1826, Oct. 13 == Ahmad Bakhsh Khan abdicates 1827, June == G leaves from Lucknow for Calcutta 1827, August == G travels to
Baanda, where he stays for about six months 1827, Oct. == Ahmad Bakhsh Khan dies 1828, very early == G travels to Banaras, where he stays for about a month 1828, Feb. 20 == G reaches Calcutta; he petitions the Company government for redress of his pension grievances 1828, June == G participates in Persian mushairahs; some linguistic objections are raised against his poetry by pupils of Mirza Muhammad Hasan Qatil; he replies to them in his masnavi baad-e mu;xaalif, written in a conciliatory tone but insisting on his view that Indian Persian writers are not authoritative for usage and idiom 1828, June== the Company government directs him to submit his pension petition in Delhi 1828, Sept. == G
compiles gul-e
ra((naa, a selection of his
Urdu and Persian poetry,
for his friend Maulvi Siraj ud-Din Ahmad; the manuscript
was missing for almost a century but then was
found by Sayyid Naqi Bilgrami, and published by Malik
Ram in
1970 1829, Feb. == G receives
a
place
and
honors in the Governor
General’s durbar 1829, Aug. == G is present at the Governor General’s second durbar; he leaves Calcutta for Baanda 1829, Oct. == G reaches Banda and stays for a week, then leaves for Delhi 1829, Nov. 29 ==G reaches Delhi 1831, Jan. == G’s
pension claim case is dismissed 1832(?) == G becomes friends with Mustafa Khan Sheftah 1833, Apr. == G compiles the Urdu divan that is
basically the
one now current; it is not published
till 1841 1834-35 == mai;xaanah-e
aarzuu-saranjaam, his Persian divan, is published
by Matba Dar us-Salam, Delhi, 506 p.; the compilation is
supervised by
Navab
Ziya
ul-Din Ahmad Khan of Loharu (younger
brother of the ruler)
and others. This work contains 275 ghazals with 6,673
shi'rs. This mss. has now vanished. 1837, June == G is sued for debt by an English wine-merchant, has to stay in his house to avoid creditors, and is briefly arrested; but Amin ud-din Khan of Loharu (son of the ruler), pays the debt 1837, Sept. == Bahadur Shah ascends the throne 1840(?) == G’s mother
dies 1840 == G refuses the
interview for an appointment to the
professorship of Persian in Delhi College 1841, earlier half == G is arrested for running a
gaming-house
in
his own home; he is fined Rs. 100 which is paid then and
there 1841, Oct. == diivaan-e ;Gaalib
in
Urdu is published by the Sayyid
ul-Mataabi'
Press (also known as Sayyid ul-Akhbar
Press), Delhi, in 108 p.; it
has a
Persian intro. by Ghalib; an endnote by Ziya ud-Din
Ahmad Khan dated
1838 saying that the total shi'rs are 1,070 (though it’s
actually 1,095). This edition is in the Saulat Public
Library, Rampur. A facsimile edition was published by
Kalidas Gupta
Raza (1999?)@@ 1845 == the first printing of
G's Persian divan (compiled 1834-35). No copy of this
first
edition seems to be known 1847, May == diivaan-e ;Gaalib in Urdu, 2nd ed., Matba Dar ul-Salam, Delhi, 98 p.; 1,159 shi’rs. A facsimile edition was published by Kalidas Gupta Raza (1999?)@@ 1847, June == G is arrested for gambling, sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment and a fine (which is paid by friends); he is treated leniently and released after 3 months; only Sheftah is loyal; he then stays as tenant in a house owned by Miyan Kale Sahib (Maulana Nasir ud-din) 1847-48 == G’s first surviving Urdu letters 1849 == panj aahang , Persian work in 5 sections: rules of address; rules of Persian grammar; his Persian verses; misc. quotes and references; some of his Persian letters; published by Matba Sultani, Delhi (Red Fort), 493 p. Kalidas Gupta Raza published a facsimile edition of the letters part (year?)@@ 1850, July 4 == G is engaged by Bahadur Shah to write a Timurid dynastic history; he is given a khitab and an annual pension of Rs. 600; he’s also given the titles of Najm ud-daulah, Dabir ul-mulk, Nizam (nazzaam?) jang@@ 1851? == the ‘sihra incident’ (Bahadur Shah takes umbrage on behalf of Zauq) 1852 == Z’s wife’s nephew
Zain ul-'Abidin Khan ‘Arif’,
whom G truly loves, dies of
an illness; Arif’s wife Zainab had died only a few
months before;
Ghalib and his wife end up bringing up both their young
sons, Baqir Ali Khan and Husain Ali Khan 1852, second half == G translates a prose text of
Muhammad Salim in the form of a Persian masnavi, maybe
at Bahadur Shah’s behest; it’s
printed by the Matba Sultani; it’s finally included in
his Persian kulliyat, 1863 1853 or earlier == the heir apparent Mirza Ghulam Fakhr ud-Din (‘Mirza Fakhru’) starts paying G Rs. 400 a year; another prince, Mirza Khizr Sultan, also patronizes him 1853, April == panj aahang, a second edition, Dar us-Salam, 444 p. (orig. 1849) 1854, late Nov. == G becomes the royal Ustad,
after Zauq
dies on Nov. 16th) 1854/55 == mahr-e niim-roz,
first part
of the Timurid history (creation of the world up to
Humayun), published
by
Matba Fakhr ul-Matabi, Delhi, 116 p.; it’s reprinted
twice more in the
same
year, but all the printings are called the ‘first
edition’ 1854/55 == G is asked by Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan to write
a preface to his new edition of A'in-e Akbari,
but instead G writes a Persian poem
deprecating the project and urging Sir Sayyid to move
with the times;
he also deprecates Akbar’s rule by comparison to that of
the British 1855 == G is awarded cash and a pension by Vajid 'Ali Shah, Navab of Avadh 1856, 7 Feb. == Vajid 'Ali Shah is dethroned, and Avadh is annexed 1856, July == the heir apparent Mirza Ghulam Fakhr
ud-Din dies
of cholera 1856, second half == qaadir-naamah,
mnemonic Persian/Urdu vocabulary verses
for children, published by Matba-e Sultani, Red Fort, 8
p.; the text contains 13 references to the language as 'Hindi', none to 'Urdu' 1856 == G composes a qasidah to Queen Victoria 1857, Feb. 5 == G becomes the Ustad of Navab Yusuf Ali
Khan
‘Nazim’,
of Rampur 1857, Mar/Apr == G writes
some letters to the Navab of Rampur,
asks for them to be destroyed
(unhappiness with wife, quest for a divorce?) 1857, May 10 - Oct. == rebellion; G is protected through the Maharaja of Patiala; all his valuables are lost when his wife secretly sends them to Miyan Kale Sahib’s house for safekeeping; Khizr Sultan is shot dead by Hudson, Bahadur Shah is exiled 1857, Oct.18 == G’s younger, mad brother Yusuf dies of a fever (says G; others claim he wandered out and was shot by the British) 1858 == G sends various qasidahs of the Queen and officers to officialdom, but they are returned as mere useless flattery 1858, Nov. == dastanbuu , G’s ‘old Persian’ (with Arabic words avoided) account of 1857, published by Matba Mufid-e Khala'iq, Agra, 80 p.; much admired by British officers 1859, July == G begins to receive a pension of Rs. 100 a month from the Navab of Rampur; also, mss. collections of his poetry have survived there after most Delhi ones have been lost in 1857 1860, Jan. 19-27 == G travels to Rampur 1860, Mar. 17-24 == G travels back to Delhi at the instigation of the two children; he stops at in a sarai at Moradabad after his boat overturns, but Sir Sayyid offers him hospitality 1860, Mar. 24 == G’s British pension reinstated through Sir Sayyid and/or Navab of Rampur’s help, Rs. 2,250 paid as arrears 1861, July 29 == diivaan-e ;Gaalib,
Urdu, third edition, Matba Ahmadi, Shaahdara, Delhi; it
is full of misprints and inaccuracies, and is rejected
by Ghalib and published without his permission and
against his will 1862, 22 March == qaa:ti((-e burhaan, his Persian polemic attacking burhaan-e qaa:ti((, Naval Kishor, Lucknow, 98 p. 1862, June == diivaan-e ;Gaalib, Urdu, revised fourth edition, Nizami Press, Kanpur; 104 p. 1863, Mar. 3 == G’s official durbar honors are restored 1863, June == kulliyaat-e na:zm-e faarsii, Munshi Naval Kishor, Lucknow, 562 p.; 10,424 shi'rs 1863, latter half == diivaan-e
;Gaalib,
Urdu, fifth edition, Matba Mufid-e Khala'iq, Agra, 146
p. 1864 == controversies about qaa:ti((-e
burhaan begin; the
dispute
ends on Mar. 23, 1868, when Ghalib files a petition
withdrawing his
case against one of his attackers 1864 == G’s Persian masnavi abr-e
gauhar-baar, separately printed by Akmal-e
Mutaabi', Delhi; though it was already in his Persian
kulliyaat 1864 == 2nd ed, qaadir-naamah-e
;Gaalib , Mahbas [Prison]
Press,
Delhi 1864, Oct. 2 == la:taa))if-e ;Gaibii,
an Urdu pamphlet, part of the qaa:ti((
controversy; the title page claimed authorship by G’s
shagird
Miyandad Khan Sayyaad 1864, Nov. == savaalaat-e ((abd
ul-kariim,
another Urdu pamphlet continuing the qaa:ti((
controversy, published under the alias of ‘Abdul Karim’ 1865, Apr. 21 == Navab Yusuf 'Ali Khan of Rampur dies,
succeeded by Kalb-e 'Ali Khan 1865, Aug. == naamah-e ;Gaalib ,
another Urdu
pamphlet, part of the qaa:ti((
controversy,
Matba-e Muhammadi, Delhi, 16
p.; it’s now included in ((uud-e
hindii 1865, Oct. 7 == G travels to Rampur to attend the
coronation, falls sick at Moradabad during the return
journey; reaches Delhi Jan.
8, 1866 1865 == dastanbuu , second ed. (orig. 1858), Rohilkhand Literary Society Press, Bareilly 1865, Dec. == durafsh-e kaaviyaanii , a revised ed. of qaa:ti((-e burhaan, Akmal ul-Mataabi' Press, Delhi, 154 p. 1866, May == G’s health begins to decline, his sight
and
hearing begin
to fail 1866 == vol. 2 [sic] of inshaa-e
urduu, ed. by Maulvi Ziya ud-din Khan of Delhi
College,
published by Matba Faiz-e Ahmadi, Delhi, with selections
of
Ghalib’s Urdu prose 1866-67 == masnavi du((aa-e .sabaa;h,
a Shi'ite
masnavi that G translates from Arabic into Persian 1867 == te;G-e tez, Urdu pamphlet, part of the qa:ti(( controversy, Akmal ul-Mataabi', Delhi, 32 p. 1867, Feb. 18 == nikaat-e ;Gaalib va
ruq((aat-e ;Gaalib, model Persian
letters selected for schoolboys, and a small text on
Persian grammar,
Siraji Press, Delhi, 16 p., composed by request of
Master Ra'e Bahadur
Pyare Lal 1867, April 11 == hangaamah-e
dil-aashob, part 1, containing verse texts from
Ghalib
and others; in Urdu, connected with the qaati((
controversy 1867, 24 Sept. == part 2, hangaamah-e
dil-aashob , contents like part
1 except both
Urdu and Persian 1867, Dec. 2 == G lodges a complaint of defamation against Maulvi Aminuddin Dihlavi, author of one of the most scurrilous of the polemical tracts that resulted from the qaa:ti(( controversy 1868, Jan. == kulliyaat-e na;sr-e faarsii, Persian prose (panj aahang, mahr-e niim-roz, dastanbuu), Naval Kishor Press, Lucknow, 212 p. 1868, Mar. 23 == a compromise is arranged and G’s legal
complaint is
dropped; since only Hali and Sheftah supported his
linguistic claims 1868, Oct. 27 == ((uud-e hindii, a collection of his Urdu letters made by Munshi Mumtaz 'Ali and others, initially against his opposition; Matba Mujtaba'i, Meerut, 188 p.; G objects to many errors, and works on a new edition 1869, Feb. 15 == G dies, after falling into a coma on Feb. 14; he is buried at Nizamuddin in the traditional graveyard of the Loharu family 1869, Mar. 5 == urduu-e mu((allaa, Part I; a second collection of his Urdu letters; Akmal ul-Mataba, Delhi, 464 p. 1870, Feb. 4 == Umra'o Begam dies 1899 == urduu-e mu((allaa ,
Parts I and
II; Matba Mujtaba'i, Delhi 1955 == the present tomb is built “A Dastaan-e-Ghalib” from ‘Berlin Diary’ by C. M. Naim, Outlook India, Dec. 27, 2010 [site]
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