[4] He was born to a well-known Bengali Kayastha family at Soora, an eastern suburb of Kolkata, India on 24 May 1892.
Raja Pitambar Mitra migrated to Oudh after the disaster at Palashi, and the family was settled there for many generations.
[2] He was the first Professor of Anthropology at the University of Calcutta, and received the "Bishop Museum Fellowship" in 1924 for studying "Polynesian affinities with India".
Nirmal Kumar Bose, personal secretary of Mahatma Gandhi during the Noakhali pre-partition riots was his student.
The Asiatic Society awards an annual 'Panchanan Mitra Memorial Lectureship' for outstanding contributions to the field of anthropology in his name.
[2] The recent (2005) publication of his book entitled Manual of Prehistoric India shows the continuing importance of his work.