Khumar Barabankvi

Khumar Barabankvi Biography

Khumar Barabankvi was an Urdu poet and lyricist from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, who lived in the 20^th century. Khumar Barabankvi is the penname of Mohammed Haidar Khan. Many of his popular ghazals have been sung by legends like Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, K. L. Saigal etc. In fact Lata Mangeshkar’s first recorded song was penned by Khumar. He lived during the period, 20 September 1919 – 19 February 1999 in UP. He was nicknamed Shahenshah e ghazal and Abru e ghazal. He stood in favour of classical ghazals, when progressive movement in Urdu poetry just started to creep in.

Mohammed Haidar Khan was born on 20 September 1919 in Barabanki. His penname Khumar Barabankvi has been derived from Arabic root 'Khum' which means a jar of wine. Khumar means intoxication. He was born into a family of literals. His father Dr. Ghulam Haider wrote salams and marsiyas under pen name ‘Bahar’. His uncle ‘Qaraar Barabnkvi’ was a well-known poet of Barabanki. In fact he was guided by his uncle in writings during childhood. He also corrected his poems. His brother Kazim Haider ‘Nigar’, a poet died at young age. Khan was a brilliant student in academics right from childhood. For graduation he moved to Lucknow. A brief romance during this time made him a poet and he quit studies.

Right from college days, he was popular in Mushairas, gatherings of poets. His poetry and ghazals with his lovely voice made him popular in local circles. Apart from writing poetry and ghazals, he penned lyrics for a few movies directed by K. Asif, and was close to music director Naushad who composed many of his film songs in Bollywood. 'Saaz aur Awaaz' and 'Love and God' are his major works as lyricist, both composed by Naushad. Hadees-e-Deegaraan’, ‘Aatish-e-Tar’, Raqs-e-Mai’ and ‘Shab-e- Tab’ are his published works.

Published: January 05, 2020

Updated: January 05, 2020