Daily Times

The 150th death anniversary of legendary poet Mirza Ghalib was observed by poetry lovers on Friday. One of the greatest poets of Urdu, Mirza Ghalib’s real name was Asadullah Khan. He was born in December, 1797 in Agra to Abdullah Baig. Ghalib married Umrao Begum, daughter of Mirza Elahi Bukhsh Khan Maaroof at the age of 13. He became a permanent resident of Delhi soon after his marriage. The renowned poet started writing his magnificent poetry since his childhood. He wrote his first piece of poetry in 1807. Ghalib earlier took the pen name Asad but later adopted the name Ghalib in 1816 which became his pen name as well. Due to economic problems, he started working at Delhi Fort but had no fixed source of income. He recited poetry to Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar to make his ends meet. He was given the title of Najmul Daula Dabeer-al-Mulk Nizam Jang and received Rs 50 as monthly remuneration.

Published in Daily Times, February 17^th 2019.