Madhava of Sangamagrama
Mādhava of Sangamagrāma (Mādhavan)[ 4] (c. 1340 – c. 1425 ) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer who is considered to be the founder of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics in the Late Middle Ages. Madhava made pioneering contributions to the study of infinite series, calculus, trigonometry, geometry and algebra. He was the first to use infinite series approximations for a range of trigonometric functions, which has been called the "decisive step onward from the finite procedures of ancient mathematics to treat their limit-passage to infinity".[ 1]
Little is known about Madhava's life with certainty. However, from scattered references to Madhava found in diverse manuscripts, historians of Kerala school have pieced together information about the mathematician. In a manuscript preserved in the Oriental Institute, Baroda, Madhava has been referred to as Mādhavan vēṇvārōhādīnām karttā ... Mādhavan Ilaññippaḷḷi Emprān.[ 4] It has been noted that the epithet 'Emprān' refers to the Emprāntiri community, to which Madhava might have belonged.[ 5]
The term "Ilaññippaḷḷi" has been identified as a reference to the residence of Madhava. This is corroborated by Madhava himself. In his short work on the moon's positions titled Veṇvāroha, Madhava says that he was born in a house named bakuḷādhiṣṭhita . . . vihāra.[ 6] This is clearly Sanskrit for Ilaññippaḷḷi. Ilaññi is the Malayalam name of the evergreen tree Mimusops elengi and the Sanskrit name for the same is Bakuḷa. Palli is a term for village. The Sanskrit house name bakuḷādhiṣṭhita . . . vihāra has also been interpreted as a reference to the Malayalam house name Iraññi ninna ppaḷḷi and some historians have tried to identify it with one of two currently existing houses with names Iriññanavaḷḷi and Iriññārapaḷḷi both of which are located near Irinjalakuda town in central Kerala.[ 6] This identification is far fetched because both names have neither phonetic similarity nor semantic equivalence to the word "Ilaññippaḷḷi".[ 5]
