Shayad issi ka naam hai muhabbat Shefta
Ek aag si hai seene ke andar lagi huyi
Perhaps this is what is called love Shefta
A fire, which is lit inside my chest
Mustafa Ali Khan Shefta
Nawab Mustafa Ali Khan Shefta (1809-1869 AD), was a famous poet and critic. He was a contemporary of Mirza Ghalib.
Like the majority of Muslim nobility he was arrested by the British in connection with the Uprising of 1857. He had close ties with the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.
However, unlike the more unfortunate ones from Kucha Chelan, such as Imam Baksh Sehbai he escaped execution and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and his estates were seized, only half of which were later restored on appeal.
Later, his son Nawab Ishaq Khan bought the prison and built their family home on it.
Shefta died in 1869 at his house in Kucha Chelaan in Delh and was buried at his family graveyard at Hazrat Nizamuddin.
He belonged to the famous Bangash family and was buried in their family graveyard which was very close to the Loharu graveyard.
He was a close friend of Mirza Ghalib who stood by him in his hour of need and it’s fitting that they sleep their eternal sleep near each other. Unfortunately, heavy construction in the twentieth century has resulted in many changes and since no headstone or marker indicates his grave, we don’t know which one it is.
Whenever i go to Chausath Khamba i just recite a fatiha for all the souls there.
As per my understanding the Bangash family graveyard is behind Chausath Khamba. That area has many graves.
Ghalib’s tomb is separated from the Chausath Khamba by a wall.
Excerpt from: “The Forgotten Cities of Delhi: Book Two in the Where Stones Speak trilogy” by Rana Safvi.
image 1&2 – unidentified graves in that area
image 3- Chausath Khamba
Image 4- Ghalib’s tomb
