In this article, we present the structural and magnetic studies of pristine SmFeO3 nanocrystalline ceramic samples as sintered at temperature 850 degrees C and 1000 degrees C. X-ray powder diffraction data confirm the existence of single-phase nature with orthorhombic (Pbnm) structure of the samples. The SEM image reveals spherical particles with a size range of 60-130 nm for SFO-850 and SFO-1000 samples. X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies on Fe L-3,L-2 and O K-edges of SmFeO3 sample revealed the homo-valence state of Fe in these materials. From magnetization studies it has been observed the materials exhibit ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic (canted spin structure) sub-lattices, which results strong magnetic anisotropy in the system. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.