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Wikimedia Commons, via Wikipedia: Bakhshali manuscript

Mathematics & Computer Science

Bakhshali manuscript: written zero & algorithms

date debated (3rd-10th c. CE)Unknown (NW Indian tradition)Bakhshali manuscriptPan-Indian / unspecified

201 CE

A birch-bark manuscript with worked arithmetic, a placeholder dot for zero, and step-by-step algorithms.

Dated: 201 CE–1000
As scholars put it: date debated (3rd-10th c. CE)
Originator: Unknown (NW Indian tradition)
Source text: Bakhshali manuscript
Region: Pan-Indian / unspecified
Discipline: Mathematics & Computer Science
Evidence: Documented
Confidence: Medium
Verification: Reference-cited

Meanwhile in the West

Among the earliest physical uses of a zero symbol.

Fair to say

Radiocarbon dating (2017) gave widely different ages for different folios; its date is genuinely uncertain.

Path to modern innovation

Shows practical algorithmic mathematics in early India.

201 CEBakhshali manuscript: written zero & algorithms

628 CEZero as a number (with arithmetic rules)
- 628 CENegative numbers and sign rules

Transmission

Local manuscript tradition.

References

1Bodleian Library 2017 dating study

Further reading

2Wikipedia: Bakhshali manuscript

Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-016 on GitHub.