Arabic Numerals Aren't Arabic. So Where Did 0-9 Come From?
0 views · 2026/09/11
The digits you use every day were born in India, reached Baghdad around 825 through al-Khwarizmi (whose name gave us "algorithm"), travelled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, and reached Europe through Fibonacci in 1202. Europe called them Arabic; much of the Arab world still calls them Indian.
Sources:
MacTutor History of Mathematics (St Andrews): Arabic numerals
MacTutor: Brahmagupta (rules for zero, 628 CE)
MacTutor: Al-Khwarizmi
MacTutor: Fibonacci (Liber Abaci, 1202; revised 1228)
Maps: Natural Earth (public domain)
#history #maps #math
Comments
0Log in to comment.
No comments yet.