Ashraf 'Ali Khan (Fighan)

Ashraf 'Ali Khan, foster-brother of Ahmad Shah, king of Delhi (1161-1167 AH; 1748-1754), was born in Delhi about 1140 AH (1727). His father Mirza 'Ali Khan "Nukta" was a courtier of Muhammad Shah, and his uncle Iradi Khan was nazim of Murshidabad. He wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian under the pen-name Fighan and held the title Zarif al-Mulk Kokaltash Khan Bahadur, conferred by Ahmad Shah. ¹

He lived in Delhi until Ahmad Shah was deposed in 1167 AH (1754), then left for Murshidabad, and after a brief stay with his uncle returned to Delhi. When the Durranis attacked India again in 1174 AH (1761) he left Delhi for good and went to Faydabad, but soon quarrelled with his patron Shuja' al-Dawla and went to 'Azimabad (Patna), where Raja Shitab Ray, governor of Bengal and Bihar, received him well. After an unkind remark by Shitab Ray he left him, came into contact with officials of the East India Company and seems to have entered their service. He died at 'Azimabad in 1186 AH (1772-1773). The entry calls him a good poet, marred by biting satire and lampoon; his Urdu and Persian diwan was published at Karachi in 1950. ¹