Scholars in Kerala [Images] discovered one of the founding principles of modern mathematics 250 years before Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibnitz, says a new study by researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Exeter.

Dr George Gheverghese Joseph from the University of Manchester said the 'Kerala School' identified the 'infinite series '-- one of the basic components of calculus- -way back in AD1350.

"The beginnings of modern maths is usually seen as a European achievement, but the discoveries in medieval India between the 14^th and 16^th centuries have been ignored or forgotten," said Dr Joseph.

"The brilliance of Newton's work at the end of the 17^th century stands undiminished - especially when it came to algorithms of calculus. But other names from the Kerala School, notably Madhava and Nilakantha, should stand shoulder to shoulder with him as they discovered the other great component of calculus- infinite series," he said.

The discovery is now attributed in math books to British scientist Sir Isaac Newton and his German contemporary Gottfried Leibnitz at the end of the 17^th century.

Dr Joseph said there was strong circumstantial evidence that the Indians passed on their discoveries to mathematically knowledgeable Jesuit missionaries who visited India during the 15^th century.

That knowledge may have eventually been passed on to Newton himself, he said.

"It's hard to imagine that the West would abandon a 500-year-old tradition of importing knowledge and books from India and the Islamic world. But we've found evidence there was plenty of opportunity to collect the information as European Jesuits were present in the area at that time," Dr Joseph said.

"They were learned with a strong background in maths and were well versed in the local languages. And there was strong motivation: Pope Gregory XIII set up a committee to look into modernising the Julian calendar. On the committee was the German Jesuit astronomer/mathematician Clavius, who repeatedly requested information on how people constructed calendars in other parts of the world. The Kerala School was undoubtedly a leading light in this area.

"Similarly there was a rising need for better navigational methods including keeping accurate time on voyages of exploration and large prizes were offered to mathematicians who specialised in astronomy.

"There were many such requests for information across the world from leading Jesuit researchers in Europe. Kerala mathematicians were hugely skilled in this area," he said.

Dr Joseph said there were many reasons why the contribution of the Kerala School has not been acknowledged till now.

A prime reason, he said, was the "neglect of scientific ideas emanating from the Non-European world - a legacy of European colonialism and beyond".

"But there is also little knowledge of the medieval form of the local language of Kerala, Malayalam, in which some of most seminal texts, such as the Yuktibhasa, from much of the documentation of this remarkable mathematics is written," he said.

"For some unfathomable reasons, the standard of evidence required to claim transmission of knowledge from East to West is greater than the standard of evidence required to knowledge from West to East," he added.

Dr Joseph said the Kerala School also discovered what amounted to the Pi series and used it to calculate Pi correct to 9, 10 and later 17 decimal places. Dr Joseph made the revelations while trawling through obscure Indian papers for yet-to-be-published third edition of his best-selling book 'The Crest of the Peacock: the Non-European Roots of Mathematics' by Princeton University Press. ANI