• Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was the most famous and outstanding of the Persian scholars and poets of the Sultanate period. His real name was Abul Hasan.

• He was one of the few Indian writers of Persian poetry whose works have been read and admired beyond their own country. His works represent the beginning of a new trend in India based Persian literature – the trend of the growing familiarity with the Indian literature and influence of the Indian literature on the Persian writings in India.

• He was the Indian born son of a Turkish immigrant. He began his career as a courtier and poet during the reign of Sultan Balban. He became a disciple of Shaikh Nizammudin Auliya, the famous Sufi saint of the Chisti order.

• He was the court poet during the reigns of Jalaluddin Khalji and Alauddin Khalji. Later, Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughluq also patronized him. He lived through the reigns of 6 Sultans of Delhi and was connected with their courts.

• His poetry consisted of a great variety of forms – lyric, ode, epic and elegy. His poetry was essentially Indian in sentiment, though he followed the Persian models in technique. Thus, he created a new style of Persian, which came to be known as Sabaq-i-Hindi or the Indian style.

• Five literary masterpieces composed by him are Mutla-ul Anwar, Shirin Khuswau, Laila Majnun, Ayina-i Sikandari and Hasht Bihist. He dedicated all of them to Alauddin Khalji.

• His Five Diwans (Collection of compositions called ghazals) include Tuhfat-us Sighar, Wast-ul Hayat, Ghurrat-ul Kamal, Baqiya Naqiya and Nihayat-ul Kamal. These compositions show the great lyrical talent of his poetry.

• Khusrau also wrote historical Masnavis (narrative poems), which have great literary and historical value. He was not a historian in the actual sense of the term, but since he enjoyed the patronage of successive Sultans of Delhi and since he selected historical themes for his Masnavis, the historical content of his writings is of great interest to the students of the history of his times.

• In Qiran-us Sadain, Khusrau describes the quarrel and reconciliation between Sultan Kaiqubad and his father Bughra Khan.

• Miftah-ul Futuh deals with the military successes of Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji.

• Ashiqa is the story of romantic love between Khizr Khan, the eldest son of Sultan Alauddin Khalji and Deval Rani, daughter of Rai Karan, the Raja of Gujarat.

• In Nuh Siphr (the Nine Skies) he gives a poetical description of Sultan Qutubuddin Mubarak Khalji’s reign. This work also contains references to contemporary social and religious conditions.

• In Tughluq Nama he describes Ghiyasuddin Tughluq’s rise to power.

• In Khazain-ul Futuh, Khusrau gives an account of Alauddin Khalji’s conquests in the South.

• Amir Khusrau’s Persian poetry often reflected the love for his country. He composed verses in Hindavi (a form of Hindi or Urdu) also and showed the way for the future development of Urdu language.