[1][2] Yusufzai was born in 1845 to a Bengali Muslim family from the village of Charan in Kalihati, Tangail, Bengal Presidency, British Raj (now in Bangladesh).
His family traced their ancestry to Pashtuns of the Yusufzai tribe, who had migrated from Afghanistan to Bengal and become culturally assimilated.
[4] Yusufzai was a progressive journalist who published a secular fortnightly, The Ahmadi (unrelated to the Ahmadiyya movement).
The Ahmadi was supported by Karimunnessa Khanam Chowdhurani, the wife of Abdul Hakim Khan Ghaznawi, the Zamindar of Delduar.
He and The Ahmadi fought a lawsuit against the Akhbare Islamia magazine over the Hanafi-La-Mazhabi and slaughter of cows.