A few metres away from the shrine of Nizamuddin in Delhi is another extraordinary place: the Tomb of Amir Khusrow, the first great poet of the Hindustani langauge.

Khusrow embodied the cultural mixing of 13th century India. He was the son of an Indian mother and a Turkic refugee who fled the invasions of Genghis Khan.

After his mentors died whilst fighting the Mongols, Khusrow poured his grief into writing poetry.

This gained the notice of several others, including Nizamuddin Auliya of whom Khusrow became the greatest disciple.

Amir Khusrow then laid the foundations of Hindustani music, by bringing Persian and Sanskrit modes together into a unified whole. He is popularly credited with inventing Qawwali, Tarana, Trivet and even inventing the Sitar.

Perhaps most extraordinary of all, was the way that he combined Persianised Old Hindi with Arabic and Sanskrit (all three of which he was fluent in).

The result was called Hindavi, basically the ancestor of Modern Urdu and Hindi. For his achievements, he was nicknamed the Tuti-i-Hind, or Parrot of India.

-Sam Dalrymple.

One of my favourite figures in history, definitely my favourite in music (sorry Bob Dylan).

Such a shame his tomb isnt better preserved.

Do read!