Ashraf Ali Khan Fughan

Ashraf Ali Khan Fughan (died 1772) was a prominent 18th-century poet of Delhi and a contemporary of Mir Taqi Mir. His birth year is not settled — 1725/6 is one given year, while other accounts place him vaguely in the early 1700s — so his birth year is recorded here as Unknown rather than choosing between them. His Diwan-e-Fughan survives in modern editions, and 15 of his ghazals survive. He is praised for fresh imagery, elegant diction, and a playful satire and wit that set him beside Mir and Sauda among the Delhi masters. One fuller life story — foster brother of Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur, pupil of Ali Quli Nadeem, bearer of the title Zarif-ul-Mulk, later in Murshidabad, Awadh and Azimabad (Patna) — is also told of him, though it remains uncertain; the title itself is also known as a name variant.