He was born in the city of Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta), at No. 6 Dwarkanath Tagore Lane, Jorasanko Thakur Bari. He was the youngest of his parents' 14 children. His father was Debendranath Tagore; his mother was Sarada Devi.
Tagore was a Bengali Brahman by birth. His nickname was "Rab" or "Rabi."
Tagore wrote his first poem when he was only eight years old. In 1877, when he was 16, Tagore published his first large poetry collection. Also when he was 16, he wrote his first short story and dramas.
In February 1873, at age 11, Tagore went with his father on a tour of India. The tour lasted several months. They visited many places in India, including Amritsar in Punjab (British India) Punjab, and Dalhousie in the Himalayas. Tagore also visited his father’s estate at Shanthiniketan. There he read biographies, and studied history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit. He also read works by Kali Das.
During this time, Tagore also composed many literary works. One of them was a long poem in Maithili (the language spoken by the people of Mithila, India). Tagore wrote this poem in the style of Vidyapati, a famous poet who wrote in Maithili.
In 1878, Tagore went to London. He enrolled at a public school in Brighton, England. He wanted to become a barrister. Later he studied at University College London. But in 1880, after Tagore did not do well in school, his father called him back from London. His father arranged a marriage for him with Mrinalini Devi, a girl who was just ten years old. They got married on 9 December 1883. Together they had five children, but two died during childhood.
In 1890, Tagore began managing his family’s estates in Sheildah, now called Bangladesh. In 1898, Tagore’s wife and children joined him there. Tagore traveled across the vast estate. While traveling, he saw many poor people. Between 1891–1895, he wrote many short stories about life in Bengal, especially rural life.