Amir Khusrow

Early life and background

Amīr Khusrow was born in [Kasba Patiyali,District Kasganj,Uttar Pradesh,Near Kasba Ganjdundwara,[India]) in 1253. His father, Amīr Saif ud-Dīn Mahmūd, 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 Kesh, near Samarkand, to Balkh, where he was the chieftain of the Turkic people. Shams ud-Din Iltutmish, the Sultan of Delhi at the time, welcomed them to the Delhi Sultanate. Iltutmish provided shelter to 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 modern day Uttar Pradesh. Amir Saif ud-Din and Bibi Daulatnaz had four children: three sons (one of whom was Khusrow) and a daughter. 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 in 1260, his mother brought him up and traveled with him to Delhi to his maternal grandfather Imadul Mulk's house. His first divan, Tuhfat us-Sighr (The Gift of Childhood), containing poems composed between the ages of 16 and 18, was compiled in 1271. In 1273, when Khusrow was 20 years old, his grandfather, who was reportedly 113 years old, died.

Career

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 1276. In 1277 Bughra Khan was then appointed ruler of Bengal, and Khusrow visited him in 1279 while writing his second divan, Wast ul-Hayat (The Middle of Life). Khusrow then returned 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 1281. Multan at the time was the gateway to India and was a center of knowledge and learning. Caravans of scholars, tradesmen and emissaries transited through Multan from Baghdad, Arabia and Persia on their way to Delhi. Khusrow wrote that:

I tied the belt of service on my waist and put on the cap of companionship for another five years. I imparted lustre to the water of Multan from the ocean of my wits and pleasantries.

On 9 March 1285, Khan Muhammad was killed in battle while fighting Mongols who were invading the Sultanate. Khusrow wrote two elegies in grief of his death. Khusrow also participated as a soldier in battles with invading Mongols in which he was taken prisoner, but later escaped. In 1287, Khusrow travelled to Awadh with another of his patrons, Amir Ali Hatim. At the age of eighty, Balban called his second son Bughra Khan back from Bengal, but Bughra Khan 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, from 1287 to 1288. In 1288 Khusrow finished his first masnavi, Qiran us-Sa'dain (Meeting of the Two Auspicious Stars), which was about Bughra Khan meeting his son Muiz ud-Din Qaiqabad after a long enmity. 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 and 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. Khusrow writes about Jalal ud-Din Firuz:

The King of the world Jalal ud-Din, in reward for my infinite pain which I undertook in composing verses, bestowed upon me an unimaginable treasure of wealth.

In 1290 Khusrow completed his second masnavi, Miftah ul-Futuh (Key to the Victories), in praise of Jalal ud-Din Firuz's victories. In 1294 Khusrow completed his third divan, Ghurrat ul-Kamaal (The Prime of Perfection), which consisted of poems composed between the ages of 34 and 41.

After Jalal ud-Din Firuz, Ala ud-Din Khilji ascended to the throne of Delhi in 1296. 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 khamsa (quintet) with five masnavis, known as Khamsa-e-Khusrow (Khamsa of Khusrow), completing it in 1298. The khamsa emulated that of the earlier poet of Persian epics, Nizami Ganjavi. The first masnavi in the khamsa 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-Shirin, consisted of 4000 verses. The third masnavi, Laila-Majnun, was a romance. The fourth voluminous masnavi was Aina-e-Sikandari, which narrated the heroic deeds of Alexander the Great in 4500 verses. The fifth masnavi was Hasht-Bihisht, which was based on legends about Bahram V, the fifteenth king of the Sasanian Empire. All these works made Khusrow a leading luminary in the world of poetry. Ala ud-Din Khilji was highly pleased with his work and rewarded him handsomely. When Ala ud-Din'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.

In 1300, when Khusrow was forty seven years old, his mother and brother died. He wrote these lines in their honour:

Khusrow's homage to his mother on her death was:

Where ever the dust of your feet is found is like a relic of paradise for me.

In 1310 Khusrow became close to a Sufi saint of the Chishti Order, Nizamuddin Auliya. In 1315, Khusrow completed the romantic masnavi Duval Rani - Khizr Khan (Duval Rani and Khizr Khan), about the marriage of the Vaghela princess Duval Rani to Khizr Khan, one of Ala ud-Din Khilji's sons.

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 (The Miracles of Khusrow), which consisted of five volumes. In 1317 Khusrow compiled Baqia-Naqia (Remnants of Purity). In 1319 he wrote Afzal ul-Fawaid (Greatest of Blessings), a work of prose that contained the teachings of Nizamuddin Auliya.

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. In 1321 Khusrow began to write a historic masnavi named Tughlaq Nama (Book of the Tughlaqs) 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. Nihayat ul-Kamaal (The Zenith of Perfection) was compiled probably a few weeks before his death.

Qawwali

Khusrow is credited with fusing the Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Indian musical traditions in the late 13th century to create qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Qaul (Arabic: قَوْل) is an "utterance (of the prophet)", Qawwāl is someone who often repeats (sings) a Qaul, and Qawwāli is what a Qawwāl sings. The word sama is often still used in Central Asia and Turkey to refer to forms very similar to qawwali.

Legacy

Amir 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, Khusrow represents one of the first recorded Indian personages with a true multicultural or pluralistic identity.

Development of Hindavi

Khusrow wrote primarily in Persian. Many Hindustani (historically known as Hindavi) verses are attributed to him, although there is no evidence for their composition by Khusrow before the 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.

Dastangoi

Dastangoi is an oral art of storytelling developed by Amir Khusrow. Legend has it that Khusrow's master, the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, had fallen ill. To cheer him up, Khusrow started telling him a series of dastans in the style of One Thousand and One Nights, one of the most notable of which was Qissa Chahar Dervesh (The Tale of the Four Dervishes). Once Khusrow had finished telling his stories, Nizamuddin Auliya had recovered, and prayed that anyone who listened to these stories would also be cured.

700th Birth Anniversary

In 1976 the renowned Pakistani musician Khurshid Anwar played a key role in observing the 700th birth anniversary of Amir Khusrow. Since he was also a musicologist, he wrote one of his rare music articles on Amir Khusrow, "A gift to posterity". In addition, he actively planned music events and activities throughout 1976. In Pakistan, Anwar had also been praised for his efforts to keep alive classical music not only through his many film compositions in Pakistan, but also through his unique collection of classical music performances recorded by EMI Pakistan, known as Aahang-e-Khusravi in two parts in 1978. The second part of the Aahang-e-Khusravi recordings was known as Gharanon Ki Gaiyki which consisted of audio recordings of representatives of the main gharanas of classical singers in Pakistan on 20 audio cassettes. The Government of Pakistan issued a special memorial postal stamp in honour of Amir Khusrow's 700th anniversary. All this was meant to be a tribute to Amir Khusrow.

Shalimar Bagh Inscription

Inscribed in the top terrace of the Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar (now in Jammu and Kashmir, India), are some famous phrases in Persian, which are sometimes attributed to Khusrow, although are not found in any of his written works:

In English: "If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this." This verse is also found on several Mughal structures, supposedly in reference to Kashmir.

Works