Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (1797-1869), known by his pen names Asad ("lion") and Ghalib ("superior"), is the famous romantic and mystical poet of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858) in India. He is the most-beloved and most widely read poet of the Urdu language, the dominant language of northern India and Pakistan that emerged through the blending of Hindustani with Arabic and Persian.