Nawab Mirza Khan (, 25 May 1831 – 17 March 1905), popularly known by his '' takhallus'' Dagh Dehlvi was an Indian poet known for his

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

s''. He belonged to the old

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

school of

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of India and Pakistan. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu: Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810), Mirza Ghalib (d. ...

.Flashback: Remembering a Mughal city
Dawn (newspaper), Published 15 January 2012, Retrieved 17 May 2018 He wrote romantic and sensuous poems and ''ghazals'' in simple and chaste Urdu, minimising usage of Persian words. He laid great emphasis on the Urdu

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

and its usage. He wrote under the ''takhallus'' (Urdu word for

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

) ''Daagh Dehlvi'' (the meanings of ''Daagh'', an Urdu noun, include stain, grief and taint while ''Dehlvi'' means belonging to or from Dehli or Delhi). He belonged to the ''Delhi school of thought''. His

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...

''Dabeer ud Dawla, Faseeh ul Mulk, Nawab Nizam Jang Bahadur, Sipah Salar, Yar-e-Wafadar, Muqrib-us-Sultan, Bulbul-e-Hindustan, Jahan Ustad, Nazim Yar Jung'', were the titles bestowed upon him by the sixth

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

Mir Mahbub Ali Khan. Daagh was considered one of the best romantic poets of his time by some commentators.

Life

Early life

Dehlvi was born in ''Kucha Ustad Dagh'', Chandni Chowk in

to Nawab Shamsuddin Ahmed Khan, the ruler of Loharu and Ferozepur Jhirka and Wazir Khanum, daughter of a Delhi jeweller. Dehlvi's father was hanged under charges of conspiracy in the murder of William Fraser. Dehlvi at the age of four and his mother at age thirty four, the most sought after lady, wooed and remarried the Mughal

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

, Mirza Muhammad Fakhroo, an heir to the last Mughal

Bahadur Shah Zafar Bahadur Shah II, (Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad; 24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862), usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' ), was the twentieth and last List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Mughal emp ...

. Hence, Dehlvi had the privileged education at the

Red Fort The Red Fort, also known as Lal Qila () is a historic Mughal Empire, Mughal fort in Delhi, India, that served as the primary residence of the Mughal emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, fo ...

, There he received best of education and was later under tutelage of poet laureate, Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq. Later, he also took advice from Ghalib on finer nuances of Urdu literature and poetry. He was also trained in

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

and

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

Literary life

Dehlvi belonged to the ''Dabistan-e-Dehli'' (Dehli school of thought) and never allowed western influences on his poetry. He started reciting poetry at the age of ten and his forte was the romantic version, the ''ghazal''. He became popular for his poetry. Unlike the elitist style by the poets of the time, his style was simple and was well received by both, the common man and the elite. After Fakhroo's death in 1856, Dehlvi along with his mother left Delhi after facing turbulent times, for Rampur State and came under the aegis of Nawab of Rampur, Yusuf Ali Khan Bahadur. He went into government service there and lived well for 24 years.

Later life in Hyderabad Deccan

Dehlvi stayed in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

in 1888 for several months. He left Hyderabad after not being invited to the court by the

Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI Asaf Jah VI, also known as Sir Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi (17 August 1866 – 29 August 1911), was the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad. He ruled Hyderabad State, one of the princely states of India, between 1869 and 1911. Early life Mahboob Ali ...

's court, as access to his court was very limited. He then was invited immediately and was appointed as the court poet and mentor, in 1891, to the Sixth Nizam

, at the age of 60.Profile of Dagh Dehlvi on urdupoetry.com website
Published 28 August 2001, Retrieved 17 May 2018 Contrary to the impression one gets from his poetry, he did not drink wine and shunned it. His couplet on Urdu language was:

Death

He died in 1905 at the age of 74 in Hyderabad Deccan after a paralytic stroke. He was buried at Dargah Yousufain in

Disciples

Dehlvi's students included Allama Iqbal, Hassan Raza Khan (1859-1908), Jigar Moradabadi (1890 – 1960), Seemab Akbarabadi and Ahasan Marharavi, though a widely quoted anecdote relates that when asked to designate his successor as the leading Urdu poet of his age, he replied ''Bekhudain he two Bekhuds', referring to Bekhud Badayuni and Bekhud Dehlvi.

Popular ghazal songs

His selected ''ghazals'' are rendered by contemporary ''ghazal'' singers, Jagjit Singh, Noor Jahan, Iqbal Bano, Ghulam Ali, Adithya Srinivasan, Malika Pukhraj,

Mehdi Hassan Mehdi Hassan Khan (; 18 July 1927 – 13 June 2012), known as Mehdi Hassan, was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer of great renown. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of ghazal singing, ...

, Abida Parveen, Begum Akhtar,

Pankaj Udhas Pankaj Udhas (17 May 1951 – 26 February 2024) was an Indian ghazal and playback singer known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian pop. He started his career with the release of a ghazal album titled ''Aahat'' in 1980 and subsequently rec ...

and Farida Khanum.Profile of Daagh Dehlvi on urduadab.com website
Retrieved 17 May 2018

Bibliography

His work consists of four volumes, consisting of 16,000

couplets In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

and a ''

Masnavi The ''Masnavi'', or ''Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi'' (, DIN 31635, DMG: ''Mas̲navī-e maʻnavī''), also written ''Mathnawi'', or ''Mathnavi'', is an extensive poem written in Persian language, Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, also known as Rumi. I ...

''. The last two volumes he wrote when he was in Hyderabad. * ''Gulzar-e-Daagh'' (1878) * ''Masnavi Fariyad-e-Daagh'' (1882) * ''Aftab-e-Daagh'' (1885) * ''Mahtab-e-Daagh'' (1893) * ''Yaadgar-e-Daagh'' (posthumous, 1905) * ''Diwan e Daagh'' * ''Intikhab-e-Kalam Daagh'' (edited by Moinuddin Aqeel)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daagh Dehlvi Indian male poets Urdu-language poets from India 19th-century Indian Muslims Poets from Delhi People from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh 1905 deaths 1831 births Writers from Hyderabad, India 19th-century Indian poets 19th-century Indian male writers Poets from British India