[1] He was born at 37, Haritaki Bagan Lane in North Kolkata on 22 February 1827 to Pandit Biswanath Tarkabhusan, a renowned Sanskrit scholar.

In 1856, he was selected for the post of Principal of Hooghly Normal School through a competitive examination for which his former class-mate Michael Madhusudan Dutt was also a candidate.

Recognizing his services, Mukhopadhyay was awarded the CIE (Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire) in 1877 by the British.

[citation needed] In 1882 he was appointed as Director of Public Instruction and was also nominated to the Lt.-Governor's Council and the Education Commission later that year.

[citation needed] His sense of nationalism was so strong that the English principal of Presidency College once noted, "Bhudev with his CIE and 1500 a month is still anti-British.