Arabic numerals are ten mathematical characters that can be used to record any numbers. They look like this: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. These figures appeared in Europe in the X – XIII centuries. Today, most countries use Arabic numerals to record the numbers used in the decimal system. The origin of the Arabic numerals is still not known for certain. Some scholars believe that Arabic numerals came to us from India in the 5th century CE, but were widely used due to the famous Arab scholar Al-Khwarizmi, who widely popularized them. This world famous scientist was the author of the treatise Kitab al-jabr wa-al-mukabala. It is from the name of this treatise that the word "algebra" came about, which has become not just a term, but a science, without which it is impossible to imagine our life.
Arabic numbers were appreciated by the inhabitants of Muslim states and improved by scientists. About five centuries, these figures were mainly used by Arabs. With their help, medieval scientists were able to achieve tremendous successes in algebra, mathematics, and other exact sciences, while Europe was sinking deeper and deeper into ignorance and obscurantism.
The origin of the Arabic numerals in Europe is due to the fact that two states peacefully coexisted on the territory of modern Spain - the Christian county of Barcelona and the Muslim Cordoba Caliphate. Sylvester II, the former leader of the Christian Church from 999 to 1003, was an unusually educated man and an outstanding scientist. He managed to discover the achievements of Arabs in astronomy and mathematics for Europeans. While still a simple monk, he gained access to Arabic scientific books and treatises. Sylvester II turned his attention to the convenience of using Arabic numerals and began to actively promote them in Europe. This outstanding person immediately turned his attention to the significant advantages possessed by the Arabic numerals in comparison with the Roman, universally used at that time in Europe.
Not immediately, the inhabitants of European countries appreciated the enormous scientific significance of this knowledge. It took three centuries for these numbers to come into use and gain universal recognition. But after the Arabic numerals took their place in medieval Europe, the Renaissance began. Thanks to the introduction of Arabic numerals, mathematics and physics, astronomy and geography began to develop. European science received a new serious impetus in its further development.
Why do Arabic numerals have such a mark? There is a hypothesis that they are composed of segments of straight lines, and the number of angles is the same as the figure itself. For example, zero has no angles, when graphically writing the numbers 1 - one corner, 2 - consists of two angles, etc. Over time, the angles have smoothed out and the numbers have acquired their current familiar form. This, of course, is an interesting hypothesis, but it is not an absolute truth.
It is not easy to answer the question of which people came up with Arabic numbers. Scientists are inclined to the version that, most likely, their writing came to Arabs from India, where the mark most closely resembles modern figures. It was in Indian documents drawn up in the 5th – 9th centuries that scientists found records that in their appearance resemble modern figures.
How did Indian numbers translate into Arabic? Arabs after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD e. intensively conducted trade with India and along with incense, spices and precious stones brought new figures, which became known as Arabic after they were improved and popularized by the Arabs. Therefore, the question of which people invented the Arabic numerals remains open to this day.