History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s7.1

v1.c7.s7.1

**Early Occurrence and Forms.** The Brâhmî inscriptions are found distributed all over India. The Brâhmî script was, thus, the national script of the ancient Hindus. It is undoubtedly an invention of the Brâhmaṇas. The early grammatical and phonetic researches seem to have resulted in the perfection of this script about 1,000 B.C. or earlier. The Brâhmî numerals are likewise a purely Indian invention. Attempts have been made by several writers of note to evolve a theory of a foreign origin of the numerals, but we are convinced that all those attempts were utter failures.¹ These theories will be dealt with at their proper places. Due to the lack of early documents, we are not in a position to say what exactly were the original forms of the Brâhmî symbols. Our knowledge of these symbols goes back to the time of King Aśoka (*c.* 300 B.C.) whose vast dominions included the whole of India and extended in the north upto Central Asia. The forms of these symbols are: