Ghalib, Indian poet (d. 1869)
Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan (Urdu: مرزا اسد اللٌٰه بیگ خان; 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869), also known by the pen names of Ghalib (Urdu: غالب, romanized: Ġālib, lit. 'dominant') and Asad (Urdu: اسد, romanized: Asad, lit. 'lion'), was an Indian poet. His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula. During his lifetime, the already declining Mughal Empire was eclipsed and displaced by the British East India Company Rule and finally deposed following the defeat of the First Indian War of Independence (Sepoy Mutiny) of 1857; these are described through his work.He wrote in both Urdu and Persian. Although his Persian Divan is at least five times longer than his Urdu Divan, his fame rests on his poetry in Urdu. Today, Ghalib remains popular not only in the Indian subcontinent but also among the Hindustani diaspora around the world.