Arabic numeral system

The Hindu–Arabic numeral system (also called the Arabic numeral system or Hindu numeral system) is a positional decimal numeral system that is the most common system for the symbolic representation of numbers in the world. It was an ancient Indian numeral system which was re-introduced in the book On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals written by the medieval-era Iranian mathematician and engineer al-Khwarizmi, whose name was latinized as Algoritmi. The system later spread to medieval Europe by the High Middle Ages.

The system is based upon ten (originally nine) different 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: Arabic numerals used in the Greater Maghreb and in Europe, Eastern Arabic numerals (also called "Indic numerals") used in the Middle East, and the Indian numerals used in the Indian subcontinent.

The Hindu-Arabic or Indo-Persian numerals originated from India. Following its re-introduction in the book On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals written by the medieval-era Persian mathematician and engineer al-Khwarizmi, whose name was latinized as Algoritmi, it began to be referred to by the Persian and Arabic mathematicians as the "Hindu numerals" (where "Hindu" meant Indian). After its subsequent introduction to Europe, the Europeans referred to it as the "Arabic Numerals" based on a common misconception of associating the origin of oriental science with Arabic peoples.

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