He is the son of Kumud Kanta Ray, ICS who was a Home Secretary of West Bengal in the 1960s.
His grandfather, Kamakshya Ray, a contemporary of Rathindranath Tagore, was one of the first four students of Patha Bhavana of Santiniketan.
(Honours) in History at Presidency College, Calcutta where he was a student of Ashin Dasgupta.
[1] He was an assistant professor of history at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.
From 1975-1982 he was reader and then from 1982-2006 he was the professor and head of the Department of History at Presidency College, Calcutta.