The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c8.17

c8.17

⁵ "The Hindus call the nought explicitly *śūnyabindu* 'the dot marking a blank,' and about 500 A.D. they marked it by a simple dot, which latter is commonly used in inscriptions and MSS. in order to mark a blank, and which was later converted into a small circle." [Bühler, *On the Origin of the Indian Alphabet*, p. 53, note.]