Mirza Asadullah Khan "GHALIB" (1797-1869)

 
*AGRA
FORT*
Growing up in Agra, he had the strong ramparts and aristocratic elegance of the Agra Fort in the neighborhood
Two of Ghalib's early seals, dated 1231 AH (1815/6); he composed a large number of his Urdu ghazals in 1816
Some portraits of Ghalib, including one actual photo
*SHAH-
JAHAN-
ABAD*
Ghalib's Delhi was Shahjahanabad-- as modified by the presence of the British: here's *a good pre-1857 overview*
This map shows Ballimaran ki Gali, where Ghalib lived his last years, in one of the series of rented havelis he had inhabited for most of his adult life
*Bahadur
Shah Zafar*
The last Mughal emperor was a poet too; after Zauq's death, he reluctantly asked Ghalib to be his Ustad, and the impecunious Ghalib reluctantly accepted
*1857*
But by then it was almost 1857, and throughout the bloody months of the Rebellion Ghalib never left Delhi; the chaos, looting, and violence in the streets appalled him
Ghalib didn't really disapprove of British rule: he loved *Calcutta*, and urban planning; he also loved the cultural and religious complexities of *Banaras*
He also loved newspapers, and his ghazals appeared frequently in the Dihli Urdu Akhbar and other papers of the day
Best of all he loved the British-provided postal service; he constantly exchanged newsy letters with his friends and shagirds (students of poetry) in other cities
Nawab Kalb-e 'Ali Khan of Rampur, Ghalib's last patron in the few years before his death
Ghalib's tomb is in New Delhi, near the shrine of *Hazrat Nizamuddin*

The haveli where Ghalib spent his final years has now been (partly) bought by the Delhi government, and its bare walls have been opened to the public


ABOUT HIS
GHAZALS:
*A DESERTFUL OF ROSES*
There's a great deal of modern commemorative material-- some of it, like this stamp, revealing both carelessness about the actual poetry, and a great desire to claim the poet
A few examples (among many) of how modern translators and interpreters tend to "transcreate" Ghalib
Ghazals, including Ghalib's, are nowadays often sung in formal concerts
Ghalib's ghazals remind me of "khat-e ghubar" calligraphy, or fractal geometry-- they're enjoyable at every level of magnification



 
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