Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c6.40

c6.40

But it is necessary to notice here a recent theory which might seem, at first sight, to be decisive against this hypothesis, especially as it appears to warrant the conclusion that these numerals are of purely Indian origin. If, however, the real bearing of this discovery be considered, it will, I think, prove rather a remarkable indigenous development, not an independent invention, and is, thus, most in accordance with what we know of the process of adaptation in India, *e. g.* of the Greek astronomy², and the evident traces of adaptation and extension in the S. Açoka alphabet.