History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s10.77

v1.c7.s10.77

It must be pointed out here that the decimal place-value notation and the word numerals were not invented at the same time. The decimal notation must have been in existence and in common use amongst the mathematicians long before the idea of applying the place-value principle to a system of word names could have been conceived. Thus we find that in the beginning (*c.* 200), the place-value principle, as is to be expected, was used with the number names. The word symbols were then substituted for the number names for the sake of metrical convenience. The right to left procedure was finally adopted because of the mathematicians’ desire to look upon the formation of the word numeral as a sort of mathematical operation.