The present study focuses on the most significant event in Ghalib's life — that of his imprisonment. Encompassing the research of Ghalib's critics the paper firstly looks at: a) Ghalib's own reaction to and perception of the event, b) evidence found in contemporary newspapers, literary historians, c) the stance taken by his friends and in-laws. The second section analyses how the event impacted upon his own personality leaving deep, far-reaching, simultaneously destructive and fruitful impressions. The effects of this emotional and conceptual turmoil are discernible in his poetry