Amir Khusrow



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Amir Khusrow was a Sufi musician, poet and scholar. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. He was a mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, and is reputed to have invented certain musical instruments like the sitar and tabla. He wrote poetry primarily in Persian, but also in Hindavi. A vocabulary in verse, the ?haliq Bari, containing Arabic, Persian, and Hindavi terms is often attributed to him. Khusrow is sometimes referred to as the "parrot of India".

Khusrow is regarded as the "father of qawwali" (a devotional music form of the Sufis in the Indian subcontinent), and introduced the ghazal style of song into India, both of which still exist widely in India and Pakistan. He is also credited with introducing Persian, Arabic and Turkish elements into Indian classical music and was the originator of the khayal and tarana styles of music.

Khusrow was an expert in many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in medieval Persia, from Khaqani's qasidas to Nizami's khamsa. He used 11 metrical schemes with 35 distinct divisions. He wrote in many verse forms including ghazal, masnavi, qata, rubai, do-baiti and tarkib-band. His contribution to the development of the ghazal was significant.

Amir Khusrow was born in Patiyali in the Delhi Sultanate (in modern day Uttar Pradesh). His father, Amir Saif ud-Din Mahmud, was a Turkic officer and a member of the Lachin tribe of Transoxania, themselves belonging to the Kara-Khitais. During Genghis Khan's invasion of Central Asia, Amir Saif ud-Din migrated from his hometown of Kesh, near Samarkand, to Balkh, where he was the chieftain of the Hazara. Shams ud-Din Iltutmish, the Sultan of Delhi at the time, welcomed them to the Delhi Sultanate. He provided shelter to the exiled princes, artisans, scholars and rich nobles. In 1230, Amir Saif ud-Din was granted a fief in the district of Patiyali.

Amir Saif ud-Din married Bibi Daulatnaz, the daughter of Rawat Arz, who was the famous war minister of Ghiyas ud-Din Balban, the ninth Sultan of Delhi. Daulatnaz's family belonged to the Rajput tribes of Uttar Pradesh. They had four children, three sons and a daughter. Amir Khusrow was one among them born in the year 1253 in Patiyali. His father Amir Saif ud-Din Mahmud died in 1260.

Khusrow was an intelligent child. He started learning and writing poetry at the age of eight. After the death of his father, his mother brought him up and traveled with him to Delhi to his maternal grandfather Imadul Mulk's house. In 1271, when Khusrow was 20 years old, his grandfather, who was reportedly 113 years old, died.

From an early age, Khusrow had a deep eagerness to know God and his strong yearning to see God brought him to the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya. Later on, Khusrow was initiated with divine knowledge from his Auliya and who made him realize that God resides within himself and can be seen with his third eye .

After Khusrow's grandfather's death, Khusrow joined the army of Malik Chajju, a nephew of the reigning Sultan, Ghiyas ud-Din Balban. This brought his poetry to the attention of the Assembly of the Royal Court where he was honored. Nasir ud-Din Bughra Khan, the second son of Balban, was invited to listen to Khusrow. He was impressed and became Khusrow's patron. In 1277 Bughra Khan was then appointed ruler of Bengal, but Khusrow decided to return to Delhi. Balban's eldest son, Khan Muhammad (who was in Multan), arrived in Delhi, and when he heard about Khusrow he invited him to his court. Khusrow then accompanied him to Multan in 1279. Multan at the time was the gateway to India and was a center of knowledge and learning.

In the year 1283, Khan Muhammad was killed in battle while fighting Mongols who were invading the Sultanate. Khusrow wrote two elegies in grief of his death. At the age of eighty, Balban called his Bughra Khan back from Bengal, but he refused. After Balban's death in 1287, his grandson Muiz ud-Din Qaiqabad, Bughra Khan's son, was made the Sultan of Delhi at the age of 17. Khusrow remained in Qaiqabad's service for two years (1287 to 1288). After Qaiqabad suffered a stroke in 1290, nobles appointed his three year old son Shams ud-Din Kayumars as Sultan. A Turk named Jalal ud-Din Firuz Khilji then marched on Delhi, killed Qaiqabad became Sultan, thus ending the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate and starting the Khilji dynasty.

Jalal ud-Din Firuz Khilji appreciated poetry and invited many poets to his court. Khusrow was honoured and respected in his court and was given the title "Amir". He was given the job of "Mushaf-dar". Court life made Khusrow focus more on his literary works. Khusrow's ghazals which he composed in quick succession were set to music and were sung by singing girls every night before the Sultan. After Jalal ud-Din, Ala ud-Din Khilji ascended to the throne of Delhi in 1295. Khusrow wrote the "Khaza'in ul-Futuh" (The Treasures of Victory) recording Ala ud-Din's construction works, wars and administrative services. He then composed a quintet (khamsa) with five masnavis. The first was "Matla ul-Anwar" (Rising Place of Lights) consisting of 3310 verses (completed in 15 days) with ethical and Sufi themes. The second masnavi, "Khusrow and Shirin" consisted of 4000 verses. The third masnavi "Laila Majnun" was a romance. The fourth voluminous masnavi was "Aina-e-Sikandari" in 4500 verses narrating the heroic deeds of Alexander the Great. The fifth masnavi was "Hasht Bihisht" related to the events of Bahram Gur. All these works made Khusrow a leading luminary in the world of poetry. Ala ud-Din Khilji was highly pleased by his work and rewarded him handsomely. When Ala ud-Din Khilji's son and future successor Qutb ud-Din Mubarak Shah Khilji was born, Khusrow prepared the horoscope of Mubarak Shah Khilji in which certain predictions were made. This horoscope is included in the masnavi "Saqiana".

After Ala ud-Din Khilji's death in 1316, his son Qutb ud-Din Mubarak Shah Khilji became the Sultan of Delhi. Khusrow wrote a masnavi on Mubarak Shah Khilji called "Nuh Sipihr" (Nine Skies), which described the events of Mubarak Shah Khilji's reign. He classified his poetry in nine chapters, each part of which is considered a "sky". In the third chapter he wrote a vivid account of India and its environment, seasons, flora and fauna, cultures, scholars, etc. He wrote another book during Mubarak Shah Khilji's reign by name of "Ijaz-e-Khusravi" consisting of five volumes.

In 1320 Mubarak Shah Khilji was killed by Khusro Khan, who thus ended the Khilji dynasty and briefly became Sultan of Delhi. Within the same year, Khusro Khan was captured and beheaded by Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq, who became Sultan and thus began the Tughlaq dynasty. Khusrow wrote a historic masnavi named "Tughlaq Nama" about the reign of Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq and that of other Tughlaq rulers.

Khusrow died in October 1325, six months after the death of Nizamuddin Auliya. Khusrow's tomb is next to that of his spiritual master in the Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi.

Khusrow was a prolific classical poet associated with the royal courts of more than seven rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. He wrote many playful riddles, songs and legends which have become a part of popular culture in South Asia. His riddles are one of the most popular forms of Hindavi poetry today. It is a genre that involves double entendre or wordplay. Innumerable riddles by the poet have been passed through oral tradition over the last seven centuries. Through his literary output, Khusrau represents one of the first (recorded) Indian personages with a true multicultural or pluralistic identity.

Amir Khusrow was the author of a Khamsa which emulated that of the earlier poet of Persian epics, Nizami Ganjavi. His work was considered to be one of the great classics of Persian poetry during later centuries.

Khusrow wrote primarily in Persian. Many Hindustani verses are attributed to him, although there is no evidence for their composition by Khusrow before 18th century. The language of the Hindustani verses appear to be relatively modern. He also wrote a war ballad in Punjabi. In addition, he spoke Arabic and Sanskrit. His poetry is still sung today at Sufi shrines throughout Pakistan and India.

Khusrow is credited for the invention of the tabla, a musical instrument popular in South Asia. The term "tabla" is derived from an Arabic word, "tabl", which means "drum".

The development of the tabla originated from the need to have a drum that could be played from the top in the sitting position to enable more complex rhythm structures that were required for the new Indian Sufi vocal style of singing/chanting and zikr and to complement the complex early sitar melodies that Khusrow was composing. The tabla uses a "complex finger tip and hand percussive" technique played from the top, unlike the pakhawaj (an old Dholak-like instrument) and the mridangam which mainly use the full palm and are sideways in motion and are more limited in terms of sound complexity.

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