Background and education

Sarkar was born into a Brahmo family of Dhaka. After attending Dhaka Collegiate School

Dhaka Collegiate School

Dhaka Collegiate School is a secondary school in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest school in Dhaka and one of the oldest and prestigious institutions in the country for more than a century.-History:...

 and then studying history at Presidency College, Calcutta, he continued his studies at Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...

 from 1923 to 1925. His daughter was Sipra Sarkar, a brilliant student of history, who became a Professor of History at Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University , is a premier educational and research institution in India.It is located in Kolkata, West Bengal and comprises two campuses - the main campus at Jadavpur and the new campus at Salt Lake...

. His son is the eminent historian Sumit Sarkar

Sumit Sarkar

-Background:He belongs to one of Bengal's most enlightened and progressive Brahmo families. His father was Professor Susobhan Chandra Sarkar, a Head of Department of History at Presidency College, Calcutta and the founder Head of Department of the Department of History, []...

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Career

He returned to India as a Lecturer

Lecturer

Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...

 in History at Calcutta University before being appointed Reader

Reader (academic rank)

The title of Reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth nations like Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship...

 in History at Dhaka University in 1927. Through the 1920s he was involved in the administration of Visva-Bharati

Visva-Bharati University

Visva Bharati University is a Central University for research and teaching in India, located in the twin towns of Santiniketan and Sriniketan in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it Visva Bharati, which means the communion of the world with India...

, Santiniketan

Santiniketan

Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata . It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town that attracts thousands of visitors each year...

, still under the active tutelage of its founder, Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

. In 1932, he was appointed Professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of History at Presidency College, Calcutta. His contribution to the development of the history department of the college is legendary and he will be remembered as one of those long serving professors of the college who inspired generations of students, not only from history, but from other social science and arts streams. He moved to Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University , is a premier educational and research institution in India.It is located in Kolkata, West Bengal and comprises two campuses - the main campus at Jadavpur and the new campus at Salt Lake...

 as Professor in 1956. He returned to Calcutta University for his final academic post from 1961 to 1967.

Sarkar, whose work was influenced by his Marxist views, concentrated on the history of modern Europe, particularly the development of constitutional history in Britain and political thought in Western Europe. He also wrote from the 1930s onwards about the Bengal Renaissance

Bengal Renaissance

The Bengal Renaissance refers to a social reform movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the region of Bengal in Undivided India during the period of British rule...

, with his Notes on Bengal Renaissance sparking an interest in nationalist Indian historiography. He also wrote the manifesto of the CPI

Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

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Post-Retirement

After retirement Sarkar involved himself in the establishment of Patha Bhavan, Kolkata

Patha Bhavan, Kolkata

Patha Bhavan ' is a private co-educational school in Kolkata, India. The school was established on June 28th, 1965.-History:The school was named after the university school of Visva-Bharati University . It was inspired by the education system started by the poet Rabindranath Tagore as well as the...

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