Satyendra Narayan Sinha was born in an aristocratic political family in Poiwan, Aurangabad district, Bihar. He belonged to the rajput caste. His father was a nationalist leader, Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, who closely assisted Mahatma Gandhi along with Dr.Rajendra Prasad in the Champaran Satyagraha movement, the first satyagraha movement in the country and also served as the first Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister of the Indian state of Bihar.