| Honorific Prefix: | Hafiz |
| Ikram Ahmad Zaigham | |
| Honorific Suffix: | Rampuri |
| Birth Name: | Ikram Ahmed |
| Birth Place: | Rampur or Delhi |
| Death Date: | 1869 |
| Death Place: | British India |
| Occupation: | Poet, alchemist, scholar |
| Successor: | Nassakh, Wahshat, Azad, Mast, Arman and Abdul Ghaffar Akhtar |
Hafiz Ikram Ahmad (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|حافظ اکرام احمد), or simply known by his pen name Zaigham (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ضيغم), was a 19th-century teacher and alchemist based in Bengal.[1] He became prominent due to his talent in Urdu and Persian language poetry,[2] specialising in ghazal and marsiya in Rekhta.
It is considered that Ikram was born in Rampur, Agra Presidency, while others suggest he was born in Delhi but from Rampur.[3] His name is often preceded with the title of Hafiz, a term used by Muslims for people who have completely memorised the Qur'an.[4]
Zaigham migrated to Bengal at some point in his life where he gained popularity. A notable piece of poetry of his include a fifty-verse long Persian qasida. Ikram was celebrated for his metre capability. Nassakh, a contemporary Urdu poet of Bengal, praised his teacher, Ikram, on this; stating that a single ghazal written by Ikram can include up to 72 Urdu poetic metres.[5]
He was also a teacher to a number of students to whom he taught Urdu poetry. Some include Nassakh, Hafiz Rashidun Nabi Wahshat, Mahmud Azad, Hakim Ashraf Ali Mast, Hamid Bakht Mazumdar,[6] Arman and Khwaja Abdul Ghaffar Akhtar.[7] [8] [9] He was also a tutor to the family of Nawab Syed Mahmud.[10] It has also been said that Shaykh Haji Ilahi Bakhsh Bijan Siddiqi of Danapur was a student of Zaigham.[11]