The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c9.157

c9.157

Sir E. Clive Bayley has added¹ a further reason for believing them spurious, namely that the 4 is not of the Nānā Ghāt type, but of the Kabul form which the Arabs did not receive until 776;² so that it is not likely, even if the characters were known in Europe in the time of Boethius, that this particular form was recognized. It is worthy of mention, also, that in the six abacus forms from the chief manuscripts as given by Friedlein,³ each contains some form of zero, which symbol probably originated in India about this time or later. It could hardly have reached Europe so soon.