Indians’ contribution to the world of Mathematics.

It should come as no surprise that the first recorded use of the number zero, recently discovered to be made as early as the 3rd or 4th century happened in the Indian subcontinent has a rich history going back over 3000 years and thrived centuries before similar advances were made in Europe with its influence meanwhile spreading to China and the Middle East. As far back as 1200 BC, mathematical knowledge was being written down as parts of a large body of knowledge known as the Vedas. In these texts numbers were commonly expressed as combinations of power of tens. Zero itself has a much longer history. But only in India did the placeholder symbol for nothing progress to become a number in its own right. In turn, this allowed for effective record-keeping that meant important financial calculations could be checked retroactively ensuring the honest action of all involved. These accessible mechanical tools for working with mathematical concepts, in combination with a strong and open scholastic and scientific culture, meant that by around 600 AD, all the ingredients were in place for the explosion of mathematical discoveries in India. In comparison, these sorts of tools were not popularised in the west until the early 13th century, through Fibonacci’s book liber abaci. Brahmagupta also demonstrated rules for working with a negative number.