Hindu-Arabic Numerals

Hindu-Arabic numerals, which are now used internationally, were adopted by most European countries about 500 years ago. This system evolved in India sometime between 200 B.C. and 500 A.D. The earliest mention of these numbers in the West was in 662 B.C. They were adopted by the Arabs starting around 750 A.D., and around 820 the Arab mathematician Al-Khowarizmi used them in his calculations (see the Arab math history page for a tiny bit more information on Al-Khowarizmi). This system, which started to gain acceptance in Europe around 1200, was only fully accepted in Europe in the 16^th century.

The advantage of Hindu-Arabic numerals over Roman numerals can be instantly appreciated. Any number of any magnitude can be expressed accurately and fairly briefly using only ten symbols. Furthermore, Hindu-Arabic numerals have a straightforward positional principle of addition or multiplication.

Note that the term "Arabic numerals" is also sometimes used to refer to the style used to write numbers that is still current throughout the Arabic and Persian-speaking worlds. The shape of many of these numerals, while similar to that used in the Western world, is somewhat different. For example, here are the numbers 1 through 10 written in Arabic numerals:

Alternately, you might have been looking for names for the numbers 1–10 in Arabic.