abdul karim khan was born on 11 november 1872 in kairana town in saharanpur, uttar pradesh into a family with music tradition which traced its roots to musician brothers ghulam ali and ghulam maula. his father, kale khan, was the grandson of ghulam ali. abdul karim khan received training from his uncle abdullah khan and father kale khan. he also received guidance from another uncle, nanhe khan. abdul karim khan was musically influenced by ustad rahmat khan of gwalior gharana. apart from vocals and sarangi, he also learned veena (been), sitar and tabla.