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Formation of the Indian Decimal Place-Value System

Type Event Region India Time 1–628

The Indian-Arabic numeral system is a decimal place-value notation; Indian mathematicians invented it in the 1st–4th centuries CE, and from around 60…

Timeline

  1. 1–400Indian subcontinent · IndiaThe Indian-Arabic numeral system was invented by Indian mathematicians in the 1st–4th centuries, using ten digits to represent 0–9 and recording numbers by place value. From around 600, era notation in Brahmi-script writing systems in India and Southeast Asia gradually shifted from additive notation to place value, using a single set of 1–9 symbols plus a dot for zero.
  2. 628Bhillamala · RajasthanBrahmagupta (c. 598–668) wrote the Brahmasphutasiddhanta in 628, treating zero as a number subject to arithmetic operations for the first time and giving rules for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of positive and negative numbers. This work was a key text in the maturation of place-value arithmetic and later spread westward through the Arab world.

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