He was born in 1796 in Akbarabad (present Agra). His father Abdullah Beg Khan and Uncle Nasrullah Beg Khan were in the Army. Mirza Ghalib become orphaned when he was just 5 years old. He lived with his uncle for 4 years, when his uncle too died. He started saying sher in Agra itself. He married the daughter of Nawab Ilahi Baksh 'Maaroof' and therefore moved to Delhi. In Delhi he devoted his full concentration to poetry. Soon he mastered the Persian language. So that no one should call him be-ustad ( without a teacher) he fabricated a story that he had an Iranian teacher Abdul-samad live in house for two years to teach him Farsi. Ghalib was always proud of his Farsi poetry but he is known more by his Urdu prose and poetry.