THE HINDU-ARABIC NUMERALS 605 



In the Kharosthi inscriptions of the third century B.C. four 

 numerals occur, the origin and meaning of which are evident : 



12 4 5 



I II HII lllli 



In the Saka inscriptions of the first century before Christ more char- 

 acters appear, and the resemblance to the Eoman becomes striking:* 



12345 6 8 10 



< 11 III X IX IIX. XX ? 

 J ?3? 33} 9333 XI ^|| 



20 60 60 70 100 200 



This system is constructed of the symbols for 1, 4, 10, 20, 100, and so 

 forth, as the Eoman is built upon the I, V, X, L, C, D, and M. 



In the same period another system was invented in which greater 

 flexibility and power were obtained by using an increased number of 

 signs. In the third century B.C. certain of King Asoka's inscriptions 

 in the Brahmi writing contain these characters :* 



"1 + ^ Q J A yr t 



124 6 5050200 200 200 



In the following century an inscription in the Nana Ghat cave near 

 Poona in central India has even more interesting one? :* 



_=- : f J f <f 1 ? cccrar 



12 4 6 7 9 10 10 10 



20 60 80 100 100 100 200 400 



W)TT TT Ty "Rr T° 



700 1000 4000 6000 10,000 20,000 



Here the 1, 6, and 7, which we now use, appear plainly; while the 2 

 and 9 are in rudimentary form. About two hundred years later inscrip- 

 tions in the Xasik cave contain all of the important Hindu numerals :* 



1 23 4 56789 

 10 10 20 40 70 100 200 500 



1 f r v v v- 



1000 2000 3000 4000 8000 70,000 



* From Smith and Karpinski, ' ' The Hindu-Arabic Numerals. ' ' 



