Nazeer Akbarabadi

Nazeer Akbarabadi
Born	Wali Muhammad 1735 Delhi
Died	1830
Occupation	poet
Language	Urdu
Notable works	Banjaranama (Chronicle of the Nomad)

Nazeer Akbarabadi (Urdu: نظیر اکبر آبادی‎ – Naẓīr Akbar Ābādī) (real name "Wali Muhammad") (1735–1830) was an 18th-century Indian poet known as "Father of Nazm", who wrote Urdu ghazals and nazms under nom de plume (takhallus) "Nazeer", most remembered for his poems like Banjaranama (Chronicle of the Nomad), a satire. His father was Muhammad Farooq and his mother was the daughter of Nawab Sultan Khan who was the governor of Agra Fort. Agra, the Indian city, was known as Akbarabad after Mughal emperor Akbar at that time. He used simple, everyday language in his poems, which made them popular in the masses.

Nazeer's date of birth is not certain but most of his biographers believe that he was born in Delhi (then called "Dihli") in 1735 AD. The period of his birth coincided with the decline of the Mughal empire in India. In 1739 Nazeer was still a child when Nadir Shah attacked Delhi and Muhammad Shah Rangeela was arrested. He was later released but countless people were mercilessly killed in Delhi. The horrors of this plunder were still fresh in the minds of people when 18 years later, in 1757 AD, Ahmad Shah Abdali attacked Delhi. People left Delhi for safer cities. Nazeer along with his mother and grandmother also abandoned Delhi and migrated to Akbarabad. At this time Nazeer was 18 years old.

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