#AmirKhusrau

Amīr Khusrau · 1253–1325

In the books · 1 chapter

Who this is

Persian poetry at its Indian summit; the first named poet of Hindavī, the street speech that became Hindi and Urdu; courtier-chronicler of the Delhi Sultanate; by tradition, the fountainhead of qawwāli and of Hindustani music itself.

“The best-documented poet of medieval India — five dated volumes, datable court poems, a life written down by people who knew him — is best loved today for songs nobody can prove he wrote; and the honest chapter, which admits this, is still prouder than the legend.”

— The Great Indians, Ch. 108

The big idea, in the book's words:

“You can serve seven kings and still belong to none of them; you can master the world's most prestigious language and still sing in your mother's. Khusrau did both at once, and half of North Indian culture flows out of the doing.”

— The Great Indians, Ch. 108