Sarkar was born in Karachmaria village in Natore, Bengal to Rajkumar Sarkar, the local Zamindar on 10 December 1870.
he graduated in English from Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1892, he topped the Master of Arts examination, in English at Calcutta University, and in 1897, he received the Premchand-Roychand Scholarship.
In 1893, he was inducted as a faculty of English literature at Ripon College, Calcutta (later renamed Surendranath College). In 1898, he was appointed at Presidency College, Calcutta after getting selected for the Provincial Education Services.
Sarkar was honored by Britain with a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire CIE and knighted in the 1929 Birthday Honours list.
