Ananda Mohun Bose studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge from 1870. He earned a First Class degree and was the first Indian wrangler. While in Britain, Bose also studied to become a barrister and was called to the Bar in 1874.

Bose was a member of the Brahmo Samaj and had travelled to Britain in February 1870 with Keshub Chunder Sen. He formed a friendship with Sophia Dobson Collett and interested her in the Brahmo Samaj.

Upon his return to India in 1874, Bose joined the Calcutta High Court. He had become friends with Surendranath Banerjea in England in 1871. When Banerjea was unfairly dismissed from the ICS in 1874, Bose tried to help him. Together they formed the Indian National Association to campaign to raise the minimum age for Indian candidates in the Indian Civil Service. This organization is seen by some historians as a prototype nationalist organization. When the Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, Bose became a member. He was President of the 14th Session in 1898 at Madras.

Bose returned to Britain in 1897 to enrol his two sons into university. He took a tour of Britain delivering speeches about the Brahmo Samaj. He died in 1905, following the partition of Bengal.