Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan - known to posterity as Ghalib, a 'nom de plume' he adopted in the tradition of all classical
Urdu poets - was born in
Agra, of parents with Turkish aristocratic ancestry, probably on December 27th, 1797. He spent most of his life in
Old Delhi's Ballimaran area near
Chandni Chowk. Mirza Ghalib is perhaps the most famous Urdu poet of India, a pioneer in the field of
ghazal. His renowned poetic collections are 'Diwan-e-Ghalib' and 'Gul-e-Rana'. ‘Gul-e-Rana’ includes both of his Urdu and Persian verses. A contemporary of the last Mughal Emperor,
Bahadur Shah Zafar, Ghalib was also a distinguished writer of letters. His collection of letters was published as 'Ud-i-Hindi'. Ghalib died on February 15th, 1869. His tomb is at
Nizamuddin, close to the tombs of Hazrat Nizamuddin and
Amir Khusro. Ghalib Academy is nearby.
