The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c8.30

c8.30

Although the dot was used at first in India, as noted above, the small circle later replaced it and continues in use to this day. The Arabs, however, did not adopt the circle, since it bore some resemblance to the letter which expressed the number five in the alphabet system.¹ The earliest Arabic zero known is the dot, used in a manuscript of 873 a.d.² Sometimes both the dot and the circle are used in the same work, having the same meaning, which is the case in an Arabic MS., an abridged arithmetic of Jamshīd,³ 982 a.h. (1575 a.d.). As given in this work the numerals are ۹ ٨ ٧ ६ ۵ ۴ ۳ ۲ ۱ ۰. The form for 5 varies, in some works becoming 𐹣 or 𐹢; 𐹡 is found in Egypt and د appears in some fonts of type. To-day the Arabs use the 0 only when, under European influence, they adopt the ordinary system. Among the Chinese the first definite trace of zero is in the work of Tsin⁴ of 1247 a.d. The form is the circular one of the Hindus, and undoubtedly was brought to China by some traveler.