Chatterjee studied at Delhi University, and received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in History at St. Stephen's College of the University of Delhi in 1982 and 1984, respectively. She earned an M. Phil. Degree in History at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1987. She earned her Ph.D. in History at the University of London in 1996. Her doctoral dissertation was titled "Slavery, Household and the Law in Colonial India, 1776-1833".
