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Concept
Hindu–Arabic numeral system
Summary
The Hindu–Arabic numeral system or Indo-Arabic numeral system (also called the Hindu numeral system or Arabic numeral system) is a positional decimal numeral system, and is the most common system for the symbolic representation of numbers in the world.
It was invented between the 1st and 4th centuries by Indian mathematicians. The system was adopted in Arabic mathematics by the 9th century. It became more widely known through the writings of the Persian mathematician Al-Khwārizmī (On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals, 825) and Arab mathematician Al-Kindi (On the Use of the Hindu Numerals, 830). The system had spread to medieval Europe by the High Middle Ages.
The system is based upon ten (originally nine) glyphs. The symbols (glyphs) used to represent the system are in principle independent of the system itself. The glyphs in actual use are descended from Brahmi numerals and have split into various typographical variants since the Middle Ages.
These symbol sets can be divided into three main families: Western Arabic numerals used in the Greater Maghreb and in Europe; Eastern Arabic numerals used in the Middle East; and the Indian numerals in various scripts used in the Indian subcontinent.
The HinduArabic or IndoArabic numerals were invented by mathematicians in India. Persian and Arabic mathematicians called them "Hindu numerals". Later they came to be called "Arabic numerals" in Europe because they were introduced to the West by Arab merchants. According to various sources this number system has its origin in Chinese Shang numerals (1200 BC), which was also a decimal positional value system of base 10.
Positional notation and 0 (number)
The Hindu–Arabic system is designed for positional notation in a decimal system. In a more developed form, positional notation also uses a decimal marker (at first a mark over the ones digit but now more commonly a decimal point or a decimal comma which separates the ones place from the tenths place), and also a symbol for "these digits recur ad infinitum".
Official source
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