Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau, widely known as Amir Khusrau, was an influential Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, scholar, and court poet who lived during the Delhi Sultanate. Active in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, he is considered an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. He was a dedicated spiritual disciple of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, a relationship that deeply informed his mystical outlook and creative output.
Khusrau wrote his poetry primarily in Persian, the courtly language of his era, but also composed works in Hindavi. He was a master of diverse Persian poetic forms, ranging from the qasidas of Khāqānī to the khamsa of Nizami. His technical virtuosity was immense, utilizing eleven metrical schemes with thirty-five distinct divisions across various verse forms, including the ghazal, masnavi, qata, rubai, do-baiti, and tarkib-band. He is also traditionally credited with compiling the Ḳhāliq Bārī, a rhymed vocabulary containing Arabic, Persian, and Hindavi terms.
Often referred to as the "voice of India" or "Parrot of India" (Tuti-e-Hind), Khusrau left an enduring legacy on the musical and literary traditions of South Asia. He is widely regarded as the "father of qawwali," a form of Sufi devotional singing, and is credited with introducing the ghazal style of song to India. These musical and poetic innovations remain highly influential across modern India and Pakistan.
