Ghazal, a collection of Shers or couplets, is a popular genre of Indian music. Shayari (poetry), mausiqui (music), and jazbaat (emotion) are the basis for creating Ghazals. It also includes application of poetic principles such as
Matla, Maqta,
Beher,
Kaafiya and
Radif. The first couplet of a Ghazal is called Matla and the concluding couplet is called Makta. All Ghazals are a collection of Shers or couplets, but all Shers are not Ghazals. Though it is independent of any language, Ghazals are commonly written in
Urdu. Some of the most popular Ghazal composers of all time are
Mirza Ghalib, Zauq,
Mir Taqi Mir and
Bahadur Shah Zafar - all of them lived in
Delhi. One of the most well known Ghazal singer was
Begum Akhtar.
