Ghalib (born Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869), was a prominent Urdu and Persian-language poet during the last years of the Mughal Empire. He used his pen-names of Ghalib (Urdu: غالِب‬, ġhālib means "dominant") and Asad (Urdu: اسَد‬, Asad means "lion"). His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula. During his lifetime the Mughals were eclipsed and displaced by the British and finally deposed following the defeat of the Indian rebellion of 1857, events that he desc