History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s7.32

v1.c7.s7.32

**Relation with Letter Forms.** It was suggested by James Princep,¹ as early as 1838, that the numerals were formed after the initial letters of the number names. But knowing the pronunciation of the number names, we find this not to be the case. Other investigators The use of the letter system, the *akṣarapallî*, suggests that the old Brâhmî numerals also might have been fashioned after the letters or the syllables of the Brâhmî alphabet.