Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq (1790–1854) was an Urdu poet and scholar of literature, poetry and religion. He wrote poetry under the pen name "Zauq", and was appointed poet laureate of the Mughal Court in Delhi just at the age of 19. Later he was given the title of Khaqani-e-Hind (The Khaqani of India) by the last Mughal emperor and his disciple Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was a poor youth, with only ordinary education, who went on to acquire learning in history, theology and poetics in his later years. Zauq was a prominent contemporary of Ghalib and in the history of Urdu poetry the rivalry of the two poets is quite well known. During his lifetime Zauq was more popular than Ghalib for the critical values in those days were mainly confined to judging a piece of poetry on the basis of usage of words, phrases and idioms. Content and style were not much taken into account while appreciating poetry. Early life Zauq was born at Delhi in 1790. His father, Sheikh Muhammad Ramzan was a lowly placed soldier in the Mughal army. It was no less than a miracle that Zauq, without having the proper treatment on account of the penury of his family, survived the attack of a dreaded malady like smallpox during his childhood. His father had no means to equip his son with the best available education of the time. He was sent to a maktab (elementary religious school) that was run by Hafiz Ghulam Rasool. Hafiz himself was a poet and used Shauq as his pen name. Under his influence the young Muhammad Ibrahim also got attracted towards poetry. Hafiz provided the required encouragement, took him as his pupil in poetry too and suggested Zauq as his pen name. Though Zauq could not complete the course of the maktab, he got hooked to poetry. In those days Shah Naseer was the most famous master poet of Delhi. Zauq began showing his ghazals to Shah Naseer for improvement. Naseer recognised the natural talent and made him his pupil. Gradually, Zauq began participating in the mushairas. His natural bent of mind towards poetry coupled with his singular obsession to excel in the pursuit brought him fame and fortune. He would be better appreciated in the mushairas than his mentor. Shah Naseer got very annoyed with the growing popularity of Zauq. He threw him out of the group of