The Best of Mir Taqi Mir
Mir Taqi Mir
Born in Agra, India (then called Akbarabad), ruled by the Mughals
at the time. He left for Delhi, at the age of 11, following his
father's death. His philosophy of life was formed primarily by his
father, whose emphasis on the importance of love and the value of
compassion remained with him throughout his life and imbued his poetry.
At Delhi, he finished his education and joined a group of nobility as a
courtier-poet. He lived much of his life in Mughal Delhi. Kuchha Chelan, located in famous grain market Khari Baoli,
in Old Delhi was his address at that time. However, after Ahmad Shah
Abdali's sack of Delhi each year starting 1748, he eventually moved to
the court of Asaf-ud-Daulah in Lucknow, at the king's invitation.
Distressed to witness the plundering of his beloved Delhi, he gave vent
to his feelings through some of his couplets.
Mir migrated to Lucknow in 1782 and remained there for the remainder of his life. He died, of a purgative
overdose, on Friday, 21 September 1810. The marker of his burial place
was removed in modern times when a railway was built over his grave.