[3][4] Khusrau was an expert in many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in medieval Persia, from Khāqānī's qasidas to Nizami's khamsa.

When he was a young man, the region was destroyed and ravaged by Genghis Khan's invasion of Central Asia, and much of the population fled to other lands, India being a favored destination.

A group of families, including that of Amir Saif ud-Din, left Kesh and travelled to Balkh (now in northern Afghanistan), which was a relatively safe place; from there, they sent representatives to the Sultan of distant Delhi seeking refuge.

Sultan Shams ud-Din Iltutmish, ruler of Delhi, was also Turkic like them; indeed, he had grown up in the same region of Central Asia and had undergone somewhat similar circumstances in earlier life.

[8] Through his father's influence, he imbibed Islam and Sufism coupled with proficiency in Turkish[clarification needed], Persian, and Arabic languages.

In 1277 Bughra Khan was then appointed ruler of Bengal, and Khusrau visited him in 1279 while writing his second divan, Wast ul-Hayat (The Middle of Life).

Balban's eldest son, Khan Muhammad (who was in Multan), arrived in Delhi, and when he heard about Khusrau, he invited him to his court.

I imparted lustre to the water of Multan from the ocean of my wits and pleasantries.On 9 March 1285, Khan Muhammad was killed in battle while fighting Mongols who were invading the Sultanate.

After Balban's death in 1287, his grandson Muiz ud-Din Qaiqabad, Bughra Khan's son, was made the Sultan of Delhi at the age of 17.

Khusrau's ghazals which he composed in quick succession were set to music and were sung by singing girls every night before the Sultan.

In 1294, Khusrau completed his third divan, Ghurrat ul-Kamaal (The Prime of Perfection), which consisted of poems composed between the ages of 34 and 41.

Khusrau wrote the Khaza'in ul-Futuh (The Treasures of Victory) recording Ala ud-Din's construction works, wars and administrative services.

The first masnavi in the khamsa was Matla ul-Anwar (Rising Place of Lights) consisting of 3310 verses (completed in 15 days) with ethical and Sufi themes.

He wrote these lines in their honour: A double radiance left my star this year Gone are my brother and my mother, My two full moons have set and ceased to shine In one short week through this ill-luck of mine.

He wrote another book during Mubarak Shah Khalji's reign by name of Ijaz-e-Khusravi (The Miracles of Khusrau), which consisted of five volumes.

[18] Historian Rana Safvi inspected all probable buildings in the Kashmir garden and found no such inscription attributed to Khusrau.

According to her the verse was composed by Sa'adullah Khan, a leading noble and scholar in the court of Jahangir's successor and son Shah Jahan.

[15] Khusrau is credited with fusing the Persian, Arabic, Turkic, and Indian singing traditions in the late 13th century to create qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional song.

[19] A well-punctuated chorus emphasising the theme and devotional refrain coupled with a lead singer utilising an ornate style of fast taans and difficult svara combinations are the distinguishing characteristics of a qawwali.

True, Khusrau had before him the example of Nirgit songs using śuṣk-akṣaras (meaningless words) and pāṭ-akṣaras (mnemonic syllables of the mridang).

[22] It is believed that Khusrau invented the tarana style during his attempt to reproduce Gopal Naik's exposition in raag Kadambak.

[25] Through his literary output, Khusrau represents one of the first recorded Indian personages with a true multicultural or pluralistic identity.

Musicians credit Khusrau with the creation of six styles of music: qaul, qalbana, naqsh, gul, tarana and khyal, but there is insufficient evidence for this.

He used the term 'Hindavi' (meaning 'of Hindu, i.e. India or Indians' in Persian) for the Hindustani language,[30] and gave shape to it in the Islamic literature.

[35] Amir Khusro, a documentary feature covering his life and works directed by Om Prakash Sharma released in 1974.

[37][38] He was portrayed by actor Bhawani Muzamil as a court poet of Alauddin Khalji in the 2018 Indian film Padmaavat by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

[39] One of Khusro's poems on Basant, Sakal bun phool rahi sarson, was quoted in an episode of Saladin Ahmed's The Magnificent Ms. Marvel.