Science Technology East India Company rule

Goldingham sets Madras time

Astronomer John Goldingham of the Madras Observatory fixed Madras time at 5 hours 21 minutes ahead of Greenwich.

John Goldingham was appointed the first official astronomer of the Madras Observatory in 1802. In the same year he formulated Madras time, set at 5 hours and 21 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. This local standard is regarded as the closest precedent to Indian Standard Time, adopted about a century later. The observatory's longitude determinations were used for a time by the Great Trigonometrical Survey. Goldingham also headed the survey school that later grew into the College of Engineering, Guindy.

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