Arabic Numeral System

Timeline

1. 801–1001House of Wisdom, Baghdad · MesopotamiaScholars such as al-Khwarizmi incorporated the Indian place-value notation and the concept of zero into the Arabic arithmetic system, writing treatises on the four operations and algebraic methods, making Indo-Arabic numerals the standard counting tool of Islamic scholarship and administration.
2. c. 1171–1180Cairo, Damascus, and North African trade routes · Islamic worldIn astronomical tables, account books, trade contracts, and madrasa textbooks of Egypt, Syria, and the Maghreb, Indo-Arabic numerals had replaced other notations, supporting astrolabe calculations, tax administration, and long-distance commercial settlement.
3. 1101–1501Toledo and Mediterranean trade ports · IberiaThrough Andalusian scholars and transmitters such as Fibonacci, Indo-Arabic numerals gradually entered the mathematics curricula of Italian merchants and European universities, ultimately becoming the globally used numeral system and profoundly changing commercial bookkeeping and scientific computation.