Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c5.2

c5.2

The necessity for the development of a systematic method of counting in an organised social life led to the birth of arithmetic in all countries at the dawn of civilization. The Babylonians developed a sexagesimal system of expressing numbers in cuneiform writing on clay tablets. The Egyptians developed a system of numeration, using hieroglyphic notation besides hieratic and demotic ones. Fractions were a subject of great difficulty to the Egyptians as well as to the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans. Indians were responsible for the introduction of the decimal place-value system and more or less modern form of numerals with the symbol for zero, for the development of simplified and straight forward methods of fundamental operations, and for the calculation by rule of three. The Indian numerals with zero, the principle of position (decimal place-value) and some of the fundamental operations found their way to Arabia by the efforts of Abbāsid Khalifs (8th to 10th century A.D.) at Bagdad.