Did Pain directly or indirectly know Madara?

I've read, from madara's wikia page, that he supposedly encouraged Yahiko to form akatsuki. This may be unrelated to an answer. I want to know did Pain (Nagato) know Madara directly or indirectly or did he know that Madara was still alive. The reason why I'm asking this is because I am writing a fanfiction that requires Akatsuki's involvement ( heavily used involvement) before Shippuden