Khusrau in Three Ideas
the essentialsHindavi
He wrote riddles, songs and verse in the people’s language of Delhi — the ancestor of Hindi and Urdu.
Qawwālī
The ecstatic devotional music of the Sufi shrines, which tradition says he created.
Love of the master
His devotion to Nizāmuddīn Auliyā is the heart of his poetry.
Amīr Khusrau (1253–1325) was a poet, scholar and musician of the Delhi Sultanate, one of the most celebrated figures of Indo-Islamic culture. Born at Patiyali to a Turkish father and an Indian mother, he served as court poet to seven sultans of Delhi, and was the devoted disciple of the great Chishtī Sufi saint Nizāmuddīn Auliyā. He wrote prolifically in Persian — lyric poems (ghazals), epics, and historical works — and is called the “parrot of India” (Tūtī-yi Hind) for the sweetness of his verse. He also wrote in Hindavi, the spoken language of the Delhi region, the ancestor of both Hindi and Urdu: riddles (pahelīs), songs and mixed Persian-Hindavi verses. Tradition credits him with inventing the Sufi devotional music qawwālī, the classical vocal form khayāl, the tarānā, and even the sitar and tabla — claims historians treat with caution, but which show his place in Indian musical culture. His songs of love for his master, like “Chhāp tilak sab chhīnī” (“You have taken away my identity with a glance”), are sung at Sufi shrines to this day. He is buried beside Nizāmuddīn in Delhi.
Curiosities
did you know?- When Nizāmuddīn died in 1325, Khusrau sold his possessions, wore black, sat by his master’s grave — and died within six months. He is buried beside him in Delhi.
- ‘Chhāp tilak sab chhīnī re mose nainā milāike’ — ‘You took away my identity with a single glance’ — attributed to him, is still the closing song at Sufi gatherings.
- He wrote in praise of India: ‘If there is paradise on earth, it is here’ — a verse later applied to Kashmir.
Questions to Argue About
debate club →- Can a poet belong to two languages — and make a third?
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