The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c7.4

c7.4

As an example of this system, the date "Śaka Saṃvat, 867" (A.D. 945 or 946), is given by "*giri-rasa-vasu*," meaning "the mountains" (seven), "the flavors" (six), and the gods "*Vasu*" of which there were eight. In reading the date these are read from right to left.¹ The period of invention of this system is uncertain. The first trace seems to be in the *Śrautasūtra* of Kātyāyana and Lāṭyāyana.² It was certainly known to Varāha-Mihira (d. 587),³ for he used it in the *Bṛhat-Saṃhitā*.⁴ It has also been asserted⁵ that Āryabhaṭa (c. 500 A.D.) was familiar with this system, but there is nothing to prove the statement.⁶ The earliest epigraphical examples of the system are found in the Bayang (Cambodia) inscriptions of 604 and 624 A.D.⁷