Saadat Yar Khan Rangin

Nawab Saadat Yaar Khan Rangin was an Urdu poet and prose writer. He is credited with the creating a feminist form of Urdu poetry known as Rekhti.

He was born in1756 at Sirhind, brought up Delhi, and died in Lucknow. He was the son of Tahmas Khan Beg, a Persian noble, 

He was a disciple of Shah Hatim. The four collections of his poems are – Rekhta, Baqiyaa, Aamekhta and Angekhta in which he is seen as a romantic poet whose choice of words was high. He wrote poems describing his amours with courtesans and dancing girls.  He also wrote Majalis e Rangin, a critical review of contemporary Urdu poets. Rangin was a mercenary, a horse-trader and a poet.

His association with the elites and the liaisons with the beauties of Lucknow led him towards rekhti and hazaliyaat. Rekhti is the feminine gender of rekhta and is a very interesting trait of literature and while composing this, a poet talks from a woman’s point of view. He has four deewans to his credit, these are, Rekhta, Baqiyaa, Aamekhta, and Angekhta. He writes like a romantic poet in his first two deewans. His choice of words is at times so high for a reader that it steals the poetical spark away. The third one is of Hazaliyaat that has a long poem that praises the Satan. Besides Bismillah it starts with Nauzobillah. Muslims consider it pious and auspicious to start every good work with Bismillah, while Naouzobillah is used to keep the Satan away. The fourth one is based on Rekhti. Besides, these deewans, he wrote five other books as well. The first one is Faras Nama that describes the breeds and cures of the illness of horses. The second one is Majalis-E-Rangeen. In this book, he incorporates corrections in the works of the experts of Urdu poetry. Rangeen Nama is the answer of Mehmuud Nama. The next one is a Masnavi, Dil Pazeer and according to Hasrat, it is better than all the masnawiees of his era. The story line and language are interesting and free of ambiguity. He was the disciple of Shah Hatim and of the age of Zoq. In his last days, he quit everything and would stay confined in his house. He died in Lucknow in 1835.   

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