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1400 BCE
Shang Numerals
Chinese numerals, similar to the Brahmi numerals because they both have specific characters for some numbers: tenths, hundreds, thousands,...
These numerals are also the ancestors of modern Chinese numerals. -
300 BCE
Brahmi Numerals
These numerals could be considered the first ancestor of the Hindu-Arabic Numeral System that we are familiar with nowadays.
Had specific characters for numbers from 1-9 and then tenths, hundreds and thousands (i.e.: 20 is made by characters 2 and 0; in this system, the number 20 was one character).
Appeared in India, where they developed a lot. -
628
Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta
This is a work written by Indian mathematician Brahmagupta, in which he first described the concept of 0.
Brahmagupta describes 0 as subtracting a number by itself (i.e.: 9-9=0) -
Period: 780 to 850
Al-Khwarizmi
This Indian mathematician played a very important role in the history of the Hindu-Arabic Numeral System.
On the year 820, Al-Khwarizmi wrote "On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals", a book that spread the Hindu numerals across Middle East and Europe. -
876
Gwalior Inscriptions
These numerals were found in some inscriptions in the city of Gwalior in India.
This is considered by many the first use of "0" as a numeral. Numbers like "50" and "270" appear in these inscriptions.
The Gwalior Inscriptions can prove that the Hindu-Arabic Numeral System has its origins in India and then it went through the Arabic countries to form what it is nowadays. -
1000
Devanagari Numeral System
Evolved from the Gwalior inscriptions, Devanagari is the name given to the numeral system of the sanskrit language in India.
These vary a bit from the Gwalior Inscriptions, but they both include 0. -
1000
Eastern Arabic Numerals
Evolved from the Gwalior inscriptions, Eastern Arabic Numerals were the first evolved system from the hindu numerals to exist in Arabic and Middle East countries. They were created thanks to Indian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, that spread the Hindu system across these zones.
Although Arabic is read from right to left, when writing these numerals, the lowest value is written at the right, just as in modern numerals. -
1000
Western Arabic Numerals
These numerals are the final phase of evolution of the Hindu-Arabic Numeral System, to form what it is now. It includes 10 symbols, from 0 to 9. Later on, they eventually began being spread across the rest of Europe, which uses them nowadays.
One of the features this system has is that it includes the decimal system, to represent non-integer numbers (i.e.: 9,1)
It also uses a positional notation system: each digit has a position (z) starting from 0, right to left. Number 91 = 9 x 10^z + 1 x 10^z -
1400
15th Century
By this time, the digits started to have a more round shape, but some of them still weren't drawn as we draw them nowadays. -
Hindu-Arabic Numeral System
The Western Arabic Numerals spreaded across europe thanks to Fibonacci, a well-known Italian mathematician. He first found out about them in an Algerian town, Béjaïa.
After some study, Fibonacci published a piece of work named "Liber Abaci" in the early 13th century, in which he wrote about the positional system and the symbols of the Western Arabic Numerals. This work was crucial for the numerals' spread across Europe.
In the 15th century, the numerals evolved to become the Hindu Arabic System.