Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born on February 13, 1835, in Qadian, Punjab, India[12] the surviving child of twins born to an affluent family.[13] As a child, he received his early education at home. He learned to read the Arabic text of the Qur'an and studied basic Arabic Grammar and the Persian language. In addition, he also studied some works on medicine from his father, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, who was a physician.
From 1864 to 1868, upon his father's wishes, he worked as a clerk in Sialkot where he is said to have come in contact with Christian missionaries with whom he would have conversations on religion. After 1868 he returned to Qadian, as per his father’s wishes, where he was entrusted to look after some estate affairs. During all this time Ahmad was known as a social recluse because he would spend most of his time in seclusion studying religious books and praying in the local Mosque. As time passed, he began to engage more with the Christian missionaries, particularly in defending Islam against their criticism.
He would often confront them in public debates, especially with the ones based in the town of Batala, about 11 miles (18 km) from Qadian in India.[12] After his father died in 1875, when Ghulam Ahmad was about 40 years of age he claimed to be the recipient of divine converse with continuity.[14]
