The Indian Mathematical Society (IMS) is the oldest scientific society in India founded on 41 April 1907 by Shri V. Ramaswamy Aiyar, the Deputy Collector in the services of the then Madras Province with twenty members with its Headquarters at Pune. The society was then known as 'Analytic Club' and later changed to 'Indian Mathematical Club'. In 1910, a new revised constitution was adopted and the club acquired its present name, "The Indian Mathematical Society". Today, the IMS is the oldest and the largest mathematical society of the country. Professor B. Hanumantha Rao was the first President  of the Society from  1907-1912.

The object of the society is the promotion of Mathematical Study and Research in the country. Its core activity is to inspire and encourage researchers, educationists, students and all the mathematics loving persons. One of the crowning achievements of the society was the discovery of Srinivasa Ramanujan - the greatest mathematical genius of modern times in India.

The Library of the Society was started in 1907 at Fergusson College at Pune which has been shifted to Chennai in 1950 and is now housed in the campus of the Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics,  University of Madras, Chennai. The Library receives many journals on exchange basis and has a rich collection of back numbers of reputed mathematical journals received from all over the world.

The Society publishes two periodicals, The Journal of the  Indian Mathematical Society (JIMS) and The Mathematics Student (MS).

From the inception of the Society, it published, 'Progress Reports', which were rechristened as the Journal in 1909 and it was published every two months till 1933. The Reports and later the Journal were ably edited by M.T. Naraniengar (till 1927) and later by R. Vaidyanathswamy (upto 1950). In 1934 the present new series  of JIMS  was  started  turning  it into a quarterly Journal. Under these two pioneering editors the JIMS established itself as one of the leading international Journals, a position which it continues to hold even today. Only research papers of high quality are published in the Journal.

It is significant that the 1911 volume of JIMS contains the earliest contributions of Srinivasa Ramanujan. They were in the form of questions. In fact a fifteen page paper entitled "Some Properties of Bernoulli Numbers" contributed by Ramanujan also appeared in the same 1911 volume of the Journal.

It was decided to start the publication of another periodical named The Mathematics Student in 1933 with A. Narasinga Rao as its first editor. His devoted services placed it on a firm footing. In the beginning, for many years the Mathematics Student used to publish book reviews, announcements, news, notices, problems and solutions, reports of the Conferences of the Society etc.

In order to encourage and inspire the young and budding research workers, the society holds, during its Annual Conferences, a special session of paper presentation competition for various prizes to be awarded to the best research paper presented in each of the specified areas as stipulated. The special session is held as a part of the academic programme.

The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Indian Mathematical Society.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India