{{otheruses}}
[[Image:Arabic Numerals.svg|thumb|220px|right|Numerals [[sans-serif]]]]{{numeral systems}}
'''Arabic numerals''', known formally as '''Hindu-Arabic numerals''', and also as '''[[Indian numerals]]''', '''[[Hindu numerals]]''', '''Western Arabic numerals''', '''[[European numerals]]''', or '''Western numerals''', are the most common [[Symbol|symbolic]] representation of [[number]]s around the world. They are considered an important milestone in the development of [[mathematics]].
One may distinguish between the [[decimal]] system involved, also known as the [[Hindu-Arabic numeral system]], and the precise [[glyph]]s used. The glyphs most commonly used in conjunction with the [[Latin alphabet]] since [[Early modern Europe|Early Modern]] times are <big>[[0 (number)|0]] [[1 (number)|1]] [[2 (number)|2]] [[3 (number)|3]] [[4 (number)|4]] [[5 (number)|5]] [[6 (number)|6]] [[7 (number)|7]] [[8 (number)|8]] [[9 (number)|9]]</big>.
The numerals arose in [[India]] between [[400 BC]] and [[400]] [[Common Era|CE]].<ref name=ifrah>Ifrah, Georges. 1999. ''The Universal History of Numbers : From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer'', Wiley. ISBN 0-471-37568-3.</ref><ref name=oconnor>O'Connor, J.J. and E.F. Robertson. 2000. [http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Indian_numerals.html 'Indian Numerals'], ''MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive'', School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.</ref> They were transmitted first to [[West Asia]], where they find mention in the 9th century, and eventually to [[Europe]] in the 10th century.<ref name=ifrah/> Since knowledge of the numerals reached Europe through the work of [[Arab]] mathematicians and astronomers, the numerals came to be called "Arabic numerals."<ref name=oconnor/> In [[Arabic]] language itself, the [[Eastern Arabic numerals]] are called "Indian numerals," أرقام هندية, (''arqam hindiyyah'') and a different set of symbols are used as numerals.
{{numeral systems}}
==History==
===Origins===
{{main|History of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system}}
The symbols for 1 to 9 in the [[Hindu-Arabic numerals (system)|Hindu-Arabic numeral system]] evolved from the [[Brahmi numerals]]. [[Buddhist]] inscriptions from around 300 BC use the symbols which became 1, 4 and 6. One century later, their use of the symbols which became 2, 7 and 9 was recorded.
The first universally accepted inscription containing the use of the 0 glyph is first recorded in the 9th century, in an inscription at [[Gwalior]] dated to 870. However, by this time, the use of the glyph had already reached Persia, and is mentioned in [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|Al-Khwarizmi]]'s descriptions of Indian numerals. Indian documents on [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plates]], with the same symbol for zero in them, dated back as far as the 6th century AD, abound.<ref>Kaplan, Robert. (2000). ''The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref>
[[Image:Indian numerals 100AD.gif|frame|left|[[Brahmi numeral]]s in [[India]] in the 1st century AD]]
[[Image:EgyptphoneKeypad.jpg|right|thumb|Modern-day Arab telephone keypad with two forms of Hindu-Arabic numerals, Arabic and European]]
The [[numeral system]] came to be known to both the [[Persians|Persian]] mathematician [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|Al-Khwarizmi]], whose book ''On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals'' written about 825, and the [[Arab]] mathematician [[Al-Kindi]], who wrote four volumes, "On the Use of the Indian Numerals" (''Ketab fi Isti'mal al-'Adad al-Hindi'') about 830, are principally responsible for the diffusion of the Indian system of numeration in the [[Middle East]] and the West. [http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/%7Ehistory/HistTopics/Indian_numerals.html] In the 10th century, [[Middle-East]]ern mathematicians extended the decimal numeral system to include fractions, as recorded in a treatise by [[Syrian]] mathematician [[Abu'l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi]] in 952–53.
In the Arab world—until modern times—the Arabic numeral system was used only by mathematicians. Muslim scientists used the [[Babylonian numerals|Babylonian numeral system]], and merchants used the [[Abjad numerals]]. It was not until [[Fibonacci]] that the Arabic numeral system was used by a large population.
A distinctive West Arabic variant of the symbols begins to emerge around the 10th century in the [[Maghreb]] and [[Al-Andalus]], called ''ghubar'' ("sand-table" or "dust-table"){{Fact|date=October 2007}} numerals.
The first mentions of the numerals in the West are found in the ''[[Codex Vigilanus]]'' of 976 [http://www.mathorigins.com/V.htm]. From the 980s, [[Pope Silvester II|Gerbert of Aurillac]] (later, Pope [[Silvester II]]) began to spread knowledge of the numerals in Europe. Gerbert studied in [[Barcelona]] in his youth, and he is known to have requested mathematical treatises concerning the [[astrolabe]] from [[Lupitus of Barcelona]] after he had returned to France.
===Adoption in Europe===
[[Image:Talhoffer Thott 140r.jpg|thumb|A German manuscript page teaching use of Arabic numerals ([[Hans Talhoffer|Talhoffer]] Thott, 1459). At this time, knowledge of the numerals was still widely seen as esoteric, and Talhoffer teaches them together with the [[Hebrew alphabet]] and [[astrology]].]]
[[Image:Petrus Astronomus Astronomical clock in Uppsala Cathedral.jpg|thumb|300px|Woodcut showing the 16th century [[astronomical clock]] of [[Uppsala]] cathedral, with two clockfaces, one with Arabic and one with Roman numerals.]]
[[Image:Horloge-republicaine1.jpg|thumb|250px|Late 18th century French revolutionary "decimal" clockface.]]
In 825 [[Al-Khwarizmi|Al-Khwārizmī]], the [[Persian people|Persian]] scientist, wrote a treatise, ''On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals'', which was translated into Latin in the 12th century as ''Algoritmi de numero Indorum'', where ''Algoritmi'', the translator's rendition of the author's name, gave rise to the word ''[[algorithm]]'' (Latin ''algorithmus'', "calculation method").
[[Leonardo of Pisa|Fibonacci]], an [[Italy|Italian]] mathematician who had studied in [[Bejaia]] ([[Bougie]]), [[Algeria]], promoted the Arabic numeral system in [[Europe]] with his book ''[[Liber Abaci]]'', which was written in 1202, still describing the numerals as Indian rather than Arabic.
:"When my father, who had been appointed by his country as public notary in the customs at [[Bugia]] acting for the [[Pisa]]n merchants going there, was in charge, he summoned me to him while I was still a child, and having an eye to usefulness and future convenience, desired me to stay there and receive instruction in the school of accounting. There, when I had been introduced to the art of the Indians' nine symbols through remarkable teaching, knowledge of the art very soon pleased me above all else and I came to understand it.."
The numerals are arranged with their lowest value digit to the right, with higher value positions added to the left. This arrangement was adopted identically into the numerals as used in Europe. The Latin alphabet running from left to right, unlike the Arabic alphabet, this resulted in an inverse arrangement of the place-values relative to the direction of reading.
The European acceptance of the numerals was accelerated by the invention of the [[printing press]], and they became commonly known during the 15th century. Early uses in [[England]] include a 1445 inscription on the tower of Heathfield Church, [[Sussex]], a 1448 inscription on a wooden lych-gate of Bray Church, [[Berkshire]], a 1470 inscription on the tomb of the first Earl of Huntly in Elgin Cathedral, and a 1487 inscription on the belfry door at [[Piddletrenthide]] church, [[Dorset]]. (See G.F. Hill, ''The Development of Arabic Numerals in Europe'' for more examples.) By the mid-16th century, they were in common use in most of Europe.[http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52545.html.] Roman numerals remained in use mostly for the notation of [[Anno Domini]] years, and for numbers on clockfaces. Sometimes, Roman numerals are still used for enumeration of lists (as an alternative to alphabetical enumeration), and numbering pages in prefatory material in books.
==Evolution of symbols==
{{main|Algorism|glyphs used with the Hindu-Arabic numeral system}}
The numeral system employed, known as [[algorism]], is [[positional notation|positional]] [[decimal]] notation.
Various symbol sets are used to represent numbers in the Arabic numeral system, all of which evolved from the [[Brahmi numerals]]. The symbols used to represent the system have split into various typographical variants since the [[Middle Ages]]:
*The widespread Western Arabic numerals used with the [[Latin alphabet]], in the table below labelled ''European'', descended from the West Arabic numerals developed in [[al-Andalus]] and the [[Maghreb]]. (There are two [[typographic]] styles for rendering European numerals, known as lining figures and [[text figures]]).
*The Arabic-Indic or [[Eastern Arabic numerals]] used with the [[Arabic alphabet]] developed primarily in what is now [[Iraq]]. A variant of the Eastern Arabic numerals used in the Persian and Urdu languages is shown as East Arabic-Indic.
*The [[Devanagari numerals]] used with [[Devanagari]] and related variants are grouped as [[Indian numerals]].
[[Image:Arabic numerals-en.svg|500px|Table of numerals]]
The evolution of the numerals in early Europe is shown on a table created by the French scholar J.E. Montucla in his ''Histoire de la Mathematique'', which was published in 1757:
[[Image:EuropeanFormOfArabianDigits.png|500px|Table of numerals]]
The Arabic numerals are encoded in [[ASCII]] (and [[Unicode]]) at positions 48 to 57:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!style="width: 5.5em"|Binary
!style="width: 2.5em"|Dec
!style="width: 2.5em"|Hex
!Glyph
|-
|0011 0000
|48
|30
|0
|-
|0011 0001
|49
|31
|1
|-
|0011 0010
|50
|32
|2
|-
|0011 0011
|51
|33
|3
|-
|0011 0100
|52
|34
|4
|-
|0011 0101
|53
|35
|5
|-
|0011 0110
|54
|36
|6
|-
|0011 0111
|55
|37
|7
|-
|0011 1000
|56
|38
|8
|-
|0011 1001
|57
|39
|9
|}
==See also ==
*[[Hindu-Arabic numeral system]]
*[[Numeral system]]
*[[Counting rods]] - decimal positional numeral system with zero
*[[Chinese numerals]]
*[[Japanese numerals]]
*[[Roman numerals]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
*{{Harvard reference
| last=Burnett
| first=Charles
| authorlink=
| title=The Semantics of Indian Numerals in Arabic, Greek and Latin
| journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy,
| publisher=Springer-Netherlands
| volume=34
| issue=1-2
| year=2006
| pages=15-30
| url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10781-005-8153-z
}}.
*{{Harvard reference
| last=Encyclopaedia Britannica (Kim Plofker)
| first=
| title=mathematics, South Asian
| journal=Encyclopædia Britannica Online
| volume=
| issue=
| year=2007
| pages=1-12
| url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9389286
| access-date=[[May 18]], [[2007]]
}}.
*{{Harvard reference
| last1=Hayashi
| first1=Takao
| year=1995
| title=The Bakhshali Manuscript, An ancient Indian mathematical treatise
| place=
| publisher=Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 596 pages
| isbn=906980087X
| url=
}}.
*{{Harvard reference
| last1=Ifrah
| first1=Georges
| authorlink=Georges Ifrah
| year=2000
| title=A Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to Computers
| place=
| publisher=New York, Wiley, 658 pages
| isbn=0471393401
| url=http://www.amazon.com/Universal-History-Numbers-Prehistory-Invention/dp/0471393401/
}}.
*{{Harvard reference
| last1=Katz
| first1=Victor J. (ed)
| date=[[July 20]] [[2007]]
| year=2007
| editor2-last=
| editor2-first=
| title=The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook
| volume=
| place=
| publisher=Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 685 pages.
| publication-year=
| isbn=0691114854
}}.
==External links==
*[http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab34 History of Counting Systems and Numerals]. Retrieved [[11 December]] [[2005]].
*[http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2003/06/01-95210802.html The Evolution of Numbers]. [[16 April]] [[2005]].
*O'Connor, J. J. and Robertson, E. F. [http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/%7Ehistory/HistTopics/Indian_numerals.html Indian numerals]. November 2000.
*[http://sheepoo.wordpress.com Classical Arabic Blog]
*History of the Numerals
**[http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/%7Ehistory/HistTopics/Arabic_numerals.html Arabic numerals]:
**[http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/university/scit/modules/mm2217/han.htm Hindu-Arabic numerals]:
**[http://www.archimedes-lab.org/numeral.html Numeral & Numbers' history and curiosities]:
**[http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=1187&bodyId=1327 Gerbert d'Aurillac's early use of Hindu-Arabic numerals] at [http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/ Convergence]
[[Category:Numerals]]
[[Category:graphemes]]
[[ar:الأرقام العربية]]
[[br:Sifroù arabek]]
[[bg:Арабски цифри]]
[[ca:Numeració aràbiga]]
[[cs:Arabské číslice]]
[[da:Arabiske talsystem]]
[[de:Arabische Ziffern]]
[[es:Numeración arábiga]]
[[eo:Arabaj ciferoj]]
[[fr:Chiffres arabes]]
[[gu:હિન્દુ-અરેબીક અંકો]]
[[zh-classical:阿拉伯數字]]
[[ko:아라비아 수 체계]]
[[hr:Arapski brojevi]]
[[it:Sistema di numerazione arabo]]
[[la:Numeri Arabici]]
[[mr:दशमान पद्धत]]
[[nl:Arabisch-Indische cijfers]]
[[ja:アラビア数字]]
[[pl:Cyfry arabskie]]
[[pt:Algarismos arábicos]]
[[ru:Арабские цифры]]
[[scn:Nùmmura àrabbi]]
[[sl:Arabske številke]]
[[sr:Арапски бројеви]]
[[fi:Arabialaiset numerot]]
[[th:เลขอารบิก]]
[[vi:Chữ số Ả Rập]]
[[uk:Арабська система цифр]]
[[zh:阿拉伯数字]]