Syed Insha Allah Khan, who was known in the world of sher-o-shayari as 'Insha', belonged to a noble lineage of Syeds of Najaf who had migrated to Delhi and settled there. They were held in high esteem as nobles by the Mughal court. Insha's father was a court physician and a poet of a high cadre with the pen-name 'Masdar'. When the Mughal kingdom in Delhi was breathing its last, his father migrated to Murshidabad, the headquarters of the Nawab.

Insha was born at Murshidabad. His father trained him in a variety of arts and sciences. However, he did not undergo a regular training in the art of composing verses through his father, instead, he depended on his own skill. He left Murshidabad and came to Delhi during the period of Shah Alam II. Shah Alam was a poet-king and a patron of poets. He welcomed Insha to his court. He later moved to Lucknow to work for the Nawab to get e better recognition for his poetic talents.
He soon entered the good books of Nawab Saadat Yar Khan and became very close to him. He was very well liked and cherished. However, he overdid being social and was unable to get accustomed to the many moods of the Nawab. Temperamentally, Insha and the Nawab were different. Due his bold and free nature, Insha did not always bother about the likes and dislikes of Nawab. Subsequently, he was subjected to rigorous severities and was imprisoned. Once, a most sought-after companion, Insha became the victim of poverty and misery and died in 1817.

He had great command over Urdu and was the first Indian to compose its grammar. He conducted exhaustible experiments in the language. He was also well-versed in Turkish, Poorvi, Punjabi, Marathi, Marwari, Kashmiri and Hindi and wrote poetry in these dialects. He was a brilliant linguist with commendable capacity.