History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s10.78

v1.c7.s10.78

The above considerations place the invention of the decimal place-value notation at a period, at least two or three centuries before the invention of the word system. The word notation, therefore, points to the 1st century B.C. as the time of invention of the place-value notation. This conclusion agrees with that arrived on epigraphic evidence alone.