It would appear that the zero and the accompanying principle of position were introduced about the time of Aryabhatta. These are the inventions which give the Hindoo system its great superiority, its admirable perfection.
There appear to have been several notations in use in different parts of India, which differed, not in principle, but merely in the forms of the signs employed. Of interest is also a symbolical system of position, in which the figures generally were not expressed by numerical adjectives, but by objects suggesting the particular numbers in question. Thus, for 1 were used the words moon, Brahma, Creator, or form; for 4, the words Veda, (because it is divided into four parts) or ocean, etc. The following example, taken from the Surya-siddhanta, illustrates the idea. The number 1,577,917,828 is expressed from right to left as follows: Vasu (a class of 8 gods) + two + eight + mountains (the 7 mountain-chains) + form + digits (the 9 digits) + seven + mountains + lunar days (half of which equal 15). The use of such notations made it possible to represent a number in several different ways. This greatly facilitated the framing of verses containing arithmetical rules or scientific constants, which could thus be more easily remembered.
At an early period the Hindoos exhibited great skill in calculating, even with large numbers. Thus, they tell us of an examination to which Buddha, the reformer of the Indian religion, had to submit, when a youth, in order to win the maiden he loved. In arithmetic, after having astonished his examiners by naming all the periods of numbers up to the 53d, he was asked whether he could determine the number of primary atoms which, when placed one against the other, would form a line one mile in length. Buddha found the required answer in this way: 7 primary atoms make a very minute grain of dust, 7 of these make a minute grain of dust,
