Idea / theory / claimBranches628

Zero as a number

This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method

For everyone

Writing down rules for zero, not merely as an "empty place" marker but as a number used in calculation, happened in India. In 628 Brahmagupta gave rules for adding, subtracting and multiplying with zero. Whether an older zero appears in the Bakhshali manuscript is debated.

For specialists

Chapter 18 of the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta sets out rules for operations with "śūnya" (zero) and negative numbers (debts). Its division rule (0/0 = 0) does not agree with modern definitions. The place-value decimal system and zero reached Europe through Arabic works (e.g. al-Khwārizmī). The Bodleian Library's 2017 radiocarbon dating gave different dates, from the 3rd to the 10th century CE, for leaves of the Bakhshali manuscript. Plofker and colleagues argued that the date of the text cannot be set by its oldest leaf.

Claims

The first written treatment of zero as a number, with rules of calculation, is Brahmagupta's (628).^[1]
The zero sign in the Bakhshali manuscript dates to the 3rd or 4th century CE.^[3]

Evidence

Supporting

Measurement

One leaf of the Bakhshali manuscript was radiocarbon-dated to 224–383 CE.^[3]

Challenging

Methodological critique

Historians argued that the different dates for different leaves indicate that the text as a whole belongs to a late period, the date of the youngest leaf.^[2]

Connections

Sources

BookPlofker, K. (2009). Mathematics in India. Princeton University Press
ArticlePlofker, K.; Keller, A.; Hayashi, T.; Montelle, C.; Wujastyk, D. (2017). The Bakhshālī Manuscript: A Response to the Bodleian Library's Radiocarbon Dating. History of Science in South Asia 5(1), 134–150journals.library.ualberta.ca archive
News (further reading) (2017). The Bakhshali manuscript: The world's oldest zero?. ScienceDaily (University of Oxford press release)sciencedaily.com archive

Search the literature

Look for scholarly work on this topic in other indexes:

Google Scholar ↗Semantic Scholar ↗BASE ↗CORE ↗arXiv ↗DergiPark ↗

Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Zero as a number. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/sifir/

BibTeX

@misc{athena_sifir,
  title        = {Zero as a number},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/sifir/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history

✎ Suggest a correction