Profile of Amir Khusrau
Amir Khusrau was born in 1251 AH, in the present district of Kansi Ramnagar, Patiala, Uttar Pradesh. His name was Yamin Al-Dawlah and his title was Abul Hassan. In common parlance he was called Amir Khusrau. His father Amir Saifuddin Lachin was a Turkish chief of the nation. He came to India during the Mongol invasions and settled in Patiala (Agra). His mother was Indian, and became an orphan at the age of eight. After some time, the family moved to Delhi. Amir Khusrau saw the reign of eight kings of the Delhi Empire. He took an active part in the political, social and cultural life of the early period of the Islamic Empire in the subcontinent. Khwaja Nizamuddin, the dearest disciple of the elder saints, was the one for whom Khusrau also had great devotion. Khusrau tried his hand at every genre of poetry, Masnavi, Qasida, Ghazal, Urdu couplets, riddles and songs. In ghazal, he has five memorable divans. His contribution to Indian music is also considerable, for he afforded an Indian element to the otherwise Persianized melodies. Ragini (Ayman Kalyan) which is sung in the evening is his invention. It is said that he laid the third string on the sitar, inventing the instrument.