5 Minute History
How Indian Hindu Numeral System became “Arabic”
The Hindu numeral system along with zero was developed in India by around 700 AD. This system was the refined form of earlier Indian Brahmi system that predate the common era. The first Brahmi numerals, were used by Ashoka in his Edicts in 250 BC.
The decisive step in the gradual development of hindu numerals that spanned several centuries, was probably provided by Brahmagupta’s formulation of zero as a number in 628 AD. Prior to Brahmagupta, zero was in use in various forms but was regarded as a ‘blank spot’ (Shunya Sthana) in a positional number. It was only used by mathematicians (ganakas—people doing calculations) while the general populace used the traditional Brahmi numerals.
After 700 AD, the decimal numbers with zero replaced the Brahmi numerals. The system was revolutionary by limiting the number of individual digits to ten. It is considered an important milestone in the development of mathematics.
The Hindu numeral system soon became very popular. It was introduced to Arab court of Baghdad in 9th century AD. Arab mathematician and scholar Al khwarizmi wrote a book “On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals (Arabic: الجمع والتفريق بحساب الهندي)’ in 825 AD. This was followed by Al-Kindi, who wrote four volumes, “On the Use of the Indian Numerals (Ketab fi Isti’mal al-‘Adad al-Hindi)” in 830 AD. Later Persian scientist Kushyar Gilani wrote “Kitab fi usul hisab al-hind (Principles of Hindu Reckoning)”. It is one of the oldest surviving manuscripts using the Hindu numerals. These works were principally responsible for the diffusion of the Indian system of numeration in the Arab world and the Middle East.
In the 10th century, Middle-Eastern mathematicians extended the Hindu decimal numeral system to include fractions, as recorded in a treatise by Syrian mathematician Abu’l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi in 952–953 AD. According to Al-Beruni, there were multiple forms of numerals in use in India, and “Arabs chose among them what appeared to them most useful”.
Al-Nasawi wrote in the early eleventh century that the mathematicians had not agreed on the form of numerals, but most of them had agreed to train themselves with the forms now known as Eastern Arabic numerals.
Soon this new system of numerals was introduced in Christian Europe by Arabic-speakers of North Africa, who were then using the digits from Libya to Morocco. As such this system came to be known as “Arabic” by Europeans. In Christian Europe, the first mention and representation of Hindu–Arabic numerals (from one to nine, without zero), is in the Codex Vigilanus, an illuminated compilation of various historical documents from the Visigothic period in Spain, written in the year 976 by three monks of the Riojan monastery of San Martín de Albelda.
Leonardo Fibonacci in his book “Liber Abaci” (1202) introduced Indian numerals, the use of zero, and the decimal place system to the Latin world. It was used in European mathematics from the 12th century, and entered common use from the 15th century to replace Roman numerals.
All reactions:
43
Björn He Bergman
It seems that the digit 0 (zero) originally was used to represent the number ten, but later, 0 became a number for something non-existing, and the number ten was from then written “10” rather than only “0”, twenty was written “20” = “two tens”, and so on.
- 3w
Jai SANATANI lipi.
Jai SANATANI HINDU DHARM. 
- 45w