The manuscripts of Ghalib's Urdu diwans

Your questions answered

We start the Q&A section of the newsletter with this post. Here I will attempt to answer, to the best of my ability, readers’ queries on Indian literature. At present, this feature is available only for paying subscribers.

---

Q: “Have any of Ghalib's own manuscripts survived? Would you happen to know? I would love to see his handwriting.”

The short answer:

Yes. There are surviving manuscripts of Ghalib’s poetry, some of them in his own hand. There are also letters, written and signed by him that have survived.

For the long answer — read on!