The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c5.46

c5.46

The first of the Arabic writers mentioned is Al-Kindī (800–870 A.D.), who wrote five books on arithmetic and four books on the use of the Indian method of reckoning. Sened ibn ʿAlī, the Jew, who was converted to Islam under the caliph Al-Māmūn, is also given as the author of a work on the Hindu method of reckoning. Nevertheless, there is a possibility¹ that some of the works ascribed to Sened ibn ʿAlī are really works of Al-Khowārazmī, whose name immediately precedes his. However, it is to be noted in this connection that Casiri² also mentions the same writer as the author of a most celebrated work on arithmetic.