Born on 24 December 1914 in
Azamgarh in the
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, his education took place at Wesley High School in his hometown. His education was disrupted as he was expelled from his school in 1930 for joining a local political agitation. He turned to Hindi journalism for local newspapers. During this period, he was introduced to the study of Indian Numismatics by an acquaintance, Adv. Rama Shankar Rawat, a local collector of Indian antiquities. He soon pursued a Masters in Ancient Indian History & Culture at the
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi after finishing his Intermediate and B.A. at the same university. ==Career in museums and numismatics==