Rajen
I feel I have the background to join issue with you but only for the first part of your query, not the second, which warrants, I suppose, an independent treatment.
From Dr Birinchi Kumar Barua to Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa, if not Dr Audrey Cantlie, all have used the spelling 'Sankaradeva'. To bolster my example, I may add the name of Dr Nagen Saikia, an ex-President of Asam Sahitya Sabha.
Without bothering to shift from my desk, I lay my hands on two books in English, one by Dr Sanjib Kr Borkakoti who endorses your spelling Sankardeva while the editors (Ranjit Kumar Dev Goswami together with his associate Pradip Jyoti Mahanta) produced their Essays on Sankaradeva ('a' and 'n' accented differently).
I had been an editor of a four-language official publication for more than a decade and if I had had to decide on this particular spelling, I would not have listened to you however forceful and scientific you might have sounded.
There are various agencies responsible for spelling. The Government of India has such a body which works in tandem with the States. In Assam the Sahitya Sabha, I think, is the responsible body. But you cannot wait for their decisions. I end with a little story.
The word Shillong, I found, is spelt differently in Assamese. My choice was one which I liked just for its sophistication. I did not know that that was not the way my boss spelt it. He wanted an explanation. The Editor prevailed.
Regards
Bhuban
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