History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s8.39

v1.c7.s8.39

**Place of Invention of the New System.** It has been already stated that the same numeral forms for the numbers 1 to 9, as were in use in India from the earliest known times, have been used in the new system of notation with the place-value. Another noteworthy fact regarding the new system is the arrangement of the *aṅka* (digits). It will be observed that the arrangement in the old system was that the bigger numbers were written to the left of the smaller ones.¹ This same arrangement continues in the new system with place-value, where the digits to the left, due to their place or position, have bigger values. The gradual change from the old system to the new one using the same numerical signs, is to be found in India alone, and this, in our opinion, is one of the strongest arguments in favour of the Hindu origin of the new system. The earliest epigraphic instance of the use of the new system is 594 A.D. No other country in the world offers such an early instance of its use. Epigraphic evidence alone is, therefore, sufficient to assign a Hindu origin to the modern system of notation.