Bhartiya Ankpaddhati Ki Kahani

One of Indias greatest contributions to world culture is the place-value numeral system based on ten digit symbols. Today, this decimal place-value numeral system is used throughout the civilized world. Not only this numeral system, but also the 1, 2, 3, 9, and zero symbols used in many countries around the world, which we today call Indian International Numerals, are of Indian origin. Like the Devanagari numerals, they also derive from the old Brahmanic numerals. The story of the Indian numeral system presents an account of the origins of this great achievement of Indian genius and its dissemination within the country and abroad. A brief introduction to earlier numeral systems prevalent in our country and other countries is also provided. Finally, the binary numeral system used in modern electronic calculators is also explained. Thus, this book provides information on all major numeral systems from primitive society to modern times. The book contains approximately forty illustrations to better understand the nature of various numeral systems. Not only students of science, especially mathematics, but also scholars of Indian culture will find this book useful. Our government has accepted the Indian International Numerals as national numerals. Nevertheless, there is still considerable confusion about these international numerals in the minds of many, especially in the Hindi world. No book has yet been published by our government to properly dispel this confusion. This is the first book in Hindi, and perhaps among Indian languages, to present the origin and development of the Indian International Numerals in a scientific manner. In a way, the story of the Indian numeral system complements the story of Indian scripts published in this series by the author. Therefore, readers of Indian history and paleography will also find it useful.