Mirza Ghalib: A Literary Legend of India

Ghalib was born to a family of military general and lived in an Indian feudal society where poetry was a pastime in the last decade of the eighteen century. In his misspent youth, he acquired a genuine flair for Persian language, which was quintessential to compose poetry that would reflect the grandeur of Ferdowsi’s epic, the finesse of Nezami’s romantic poetry, the sublimity of Rumi’s spiritual poetry, the intensity of Khaqani’s odes, the eloquence of the poems of Sadi and the diction of Hafiz’s lyrics. On the one hand, the poetry of Ghalib shows the charm of Persian poetry of Iran, on the other he continued to incorporate the traditions of Indo – Persian poets such as Masud Saad Salman, Khosrow, Urfi, Naziri and Bedil in his poetry. Thus, he emerged as a poetic legend in the annals of Indo – Persian literature. His Persian poetry both in quality and quantity has put him on a very high pedestal in the pantheon of Indo – Persian poetry and he has been rightly adored by the muses, poets and thinkers such as Altaf Hussain Hali, Mohammad Iqbal and critic like Bijnori. A discourse on Mirza Ghalib in the thirteen biennial Iranian Studies Conference shall be an apt forum to pay tribute to the poetic genius of Indo – Persian literature.