Born in a Chitpavan brahmin family in Maharashtra, Agarkar distinguished himself as a great patriot and a social reformer. In 1880, he took his master’s degree from Poona. In 1081, he, along with Tilak, started the journals Maratha and Kesari to arouse national sentiments in the masses.
In 1888, he launched his own weekly Sudharak through which he con- dunned the caste system and untouchability. A strong advocate of power of human reason, he criticized blind dependence on tradition and false glorification of the past. Agarkar also founded Fergusson College and was made its Principal in 1892.