ABSTRACT

T HE history of mathematics may be traced back to the origin of our present number symbols known as the Hindu-Arabic numeral system [1]. The nu­

meral system is called Hindu-Arabic because Hindus originally invented it and the Arabs introduced it to western Europe after their invasion of the Spanish peninsula in 711 A.D. The oldest evidence of these symbols used is in India on the stone columns erected by the Scythian Indian Emperor Asoka around 250 B.C.