Personal life
Mirza was born in Kala Mahal in
Agra.
In the end of 18th century, his birthplace was converted into Indrabhan
Girls' Inter College. The birth room of Mirza Ghalib is preserved
within the school. Around 1810, he was married to Umrao Begum, daughter
of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh Khan of
Loharu (younger brother of the first Nawab of
Loharu), Nawab Mirza Ahmad Baksh Khan,
[17] At the age of thirty he had seven children, none of whom survived (this pain has found its echo in some of Ghalib's
ghazals).
There are conflicting reports regarding his relationship with his wife.
She was considered to be pious, conservative and God-fearing.
Ghalib was proud of his reputation as a rake. He was once imprisoned for
gambling and subsequently relished the affair with pride. In the Mughal court circles, he even acquired a reputation as a "ladies' man".
[18] Once, when someone praised the poetry of the pious Sheikh Sahbai in his presence, Ghalib immediately retorted:
| “ |
How can Sahbai
be a poet? He has never tasted wine, nor has he ever gambled; he has
not been beaten with slippers by lovers, nor has he ever seen the inside
of a jail."[18] |
” |
He died in
Delhi on 15 February 1869. The house where he lived in Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran,
Chandni Chowk, in
Old Delhi has now been turned into 'Ghalib Memorial' and houses a permanent Ghalib exhibition.
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