History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s12.46

v1.c7.s12.46

**Form of the Symbol.** The above quotations from ancient works prove conclusively that the zero has been considered as a number in India from the earliest centuries of the Christian era, and that there existed some symbol to denote this number. What exactly was the form of this symbol is doubtful. The Bakhshâlî Manuscript employs a dot for zero, but as the present copy of the work dates from probably the eighth or the ninth century, it cannot be said whether the form of the symbol was the same when the Bakhshâlî work was written, *i.e.*, in the third century A.D. or earlier. Evidence as to the use of the dot for zero is also furnished by the writings of Subandhu, a poet litterateur who flourished about the close of the sixth century. In the *Vâsavadattâ* of Subandhu we meet with the following metaphor: