Albion Rajkumar Banerjee was born in Bristol in the Bengali Brahmo family of Sasipada Banerji.

The family returned to India in 1872 and he was educated at the General Assembly's Institution and graduated from the University of Calcutta.

Subsequently, he earned his master's degree at the Balliol College, Oxford and joined the Indian Civil Services in 1895.

He cleared the Imperial Civil Service examinations in 1894 and was appointed Assistant Collector and Magistrate in the Madras Presidency.

His wrote: Jammu and Kashmir state is labouring under many disadvantages, with a large Mohammedan population absolutely illiterate, labouring under poverty and very low economic conditions of living in the villages, and practically governed like dumb driven cattle.