Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni
song performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni is a 14th century song, both written and composed by the Sufi mystic Amir Khusrau. Written in Braj Bhasha, it is one of the most popular compositions by Khusrau, listened across the Indian subcontinent.
This poem has been sung in Qawwali format by Pakistani and Indian Qawwals and other singers, including Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Naheed Akhtar, Mehnaz Begum, Abida Parveen, the Sabri Brothers, Iqbal Hussain Khan Bandanawazi, Farid Ayaz & Abu Muhammad Qawwal, Jafar Hussain Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ustad Shujaat Khan, Zila Khan, Nizami Bandhu, Hadiqa Kiani, Smita Bellur, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Kailash Kher, Kavita Seth and Maithili Thakur.
Text and translation
Popular culture
The 1978 Bollywood film Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki featured a version by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Another popular version, by Abida Parveen and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, appeared on the Pakistani musical variety show Coke Studio. Other Indian films which include the ghazal include Saat Uchakkey (2016) where it is sung by Keerthi Sagathia (composed by Bapi–Tutul), Unpaused (2020) - composed by Shishir A Samant and sung by Samant and Sunil Kamath.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni” is song performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Chhaap, Tilak and Chheeni, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “song performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q20824089. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1978, 2016 and 2020.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni primary sources, Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni archive and Chhaap research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.