The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Amir Khusro, b. Patiali, Uttar Pradesh, 1253-1325

The definitive directory of famous Delhiites.

[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]

At 72, the maker of Hindustani classical music lost interest in the world. Poet Amir Khusro, the 14th century courtier to seven kings, was in mourning after the death of his spiritual mentor, Delhi’s Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.

Khusro gave away his wealth, retired to Hazrat Nizamuddin’s tomb, died six months later, and was buried in the shrine’s courtyard.

Perhaps it is all a legend. How could one person singularly invent the tabla and sitar, produce the first raga and create the Sufi music of qawwali? Most likely Hindustani classical music came out of a civilization, but Khusro’s poetic genius gave that civilization its Hindustani texture.

Folksy and immediate, his language – a mix of Persian and Brij Bhasha – merged the ruling-class Muslim sophistication to the earthy sensibilities of the masses. His love poems for the God shaped the idea of India: Hindus and Muslims could co-exist and celebrate each other’s cultures. Today, the soul of subcontinent’s Sufi shrines lie in Khusro’s qawwalis. His verses steer many to spirituality, love and, occasionally, ecstasy.

The film song, Zihal-e-miskin mukun baranjish (lyricist Gulzar, film Ghulami), was inspired from Khusro’s poem, which had alternate lines in Persian and Brij.
Zihaal-e-miskeen mukon taghaful (Persian)
doraaye nainaan banaye batyaan (Brij)

[Do not overlook my misery by blandishing your eyes,
and weaving tales; My patience has over-brimmed.]

Another popular Khusro song Chhap tilak is completely in Brij.
Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
[You’ve taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.]

This playful duality defined Khusro. Devoted to a Sufi who disliked emperors, he himself made his living by serving in their courts. It was a shrewed balance of sense and sensibility: day job in the court, evening spirituality in the shrine.

Born in Patiali, a village in the present day Etah district of Uttar Pradesh, Khusro’s Turk father, Saifudin Mahmud, died when his son was eight. The mother was of Indian blood. The boy grew in Delhi with maternal grandfather, Imad ul Mulk, who took him regularly to literary soirees. As a court poet, Khusro’s works include Mathnawi Miftah ul Futuh, Ghurrat ul Kamal, Khaza in ul Futuh, Ashiqa, Baqiya Naqiya and Khamsa. The voluminous Ijaz e Khusrawi is vivid with details of everyday life in 14th century Delhi. Khusro also compiled a Hindi-Persian dictionary and composed several pahelis, the wordplay riddles.

The tradition at Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah, central Delhi, is to first pray at Khusro’s tomb, though he did not inherit Hazrat Nizamuddin’s spiritual mantle, which went to Hazrat Naseeruddin Chiragh Dilli. The poet’s special status in the Sufi order is linked to his creation of an extraordinary idiom, which millions have used to articulate their passion for the divine. Above all, he was loved by Hazrat Nizamuddin, who occasionally wrote letters calling him Turkullah, God’s Turk. Those letters were buried with Khusro. The inner walls of his tomb are inscribed with verses that were composed when he first met his beloved saint.

Note: This was originally published with a different set of pictures here.

Scenes from Amir Khsuro’s shrine during the first evening of his Urs, or death anniversary celebrations, in July 2017

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