Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, also known by the pen names of Ghalib and Asad, was an Indian poet. His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula. During his lifetime, the already declining Mughal empire was eclipsed and displaced by the British East India Company Rule and finally deposed following the defeat of the First Indian War of Independence of 1857; these are described through his work.
He wrote in both Urdu and Persian. Although his Persian Divan is at least five times longer than his Urdu Divan, his fame rests on his poetry in Urdu. Today, Ghalib remains popular not only in the Indian subcontinent but also among the Hindustani diaspora around the world.