Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797–1869)

He was born in 1796 in Akbarabad (present Agra). His father Abdullah Beg Khan and Uncle Nasrullah Beg Khan were in the Army. Mirza Ghalib become orphaned when he was just 5 years old. He lived with his uncle for 4 years, then his uncle also died. He started saying sher in Agra itself. He married toon meer the daughter of Nawab Ilahi Baksh 'Maaroof' and therefore moved to Delhi. In Delhi he devoted his full concentration to poetry. Soon he mastered the Persian language. So that no one should call him be-ustad (without a teacher), he fabricated a story that he had an Iranian teacher Abdul-samad live in house for two years to teach him Farsi. Ghalib was always proud of his Farsi poetry but he is known more by his Urdu prose and poetry. He always lived his life lacking money. After 1857 the support from the Royal durbar stopped. The pension from the British Government was stopped because he was suspected of supporting the rebels. He even traveled to Calcutta to restart the pension but to no avail. He went to the Nawab of Rampur, who promised him Rupees 200 if he lived in Rampur and Rupees 100 if he lived anywhere else. His pension was resumed 3 years after that, but all that money was used up for paying old debts. Ghalib died in 1869. (Bowker Author Biography) toon minder