The numerals that are most widely used around the world are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0. These are known as Arabic numerals, because European scholars first came across them in books written by Arab scholars. Just to confuse matters, the Arab scholars discovered them in maths books, written by scholars in India. And it is in India that the story of our numerals begins.
They were first used there about 2500 years ago. We would not recognize those early numerals if we saw them. But if you trace their development over the centuries, you can see how one shape led to another, ending up with the ones that we know and use today.
The ‘0’ representing zero appeared much later than the numerals 1-9. To begin with, zero was indicated by a dot. The circle symbol that is now used did not arrive in Europe until the twelfth century two hundred years after the numerals 1-9.
Picture Credit : Google
