Consider the following statements relating to the use of the place-value system in India:

1. The earliest epigraphic use of the place-value system in India is found in the Mankani plates from Gujarat (AD 595-596).
2. In the ninth century, place-values become general in inscriptions all over India.
3. The place-values have been found in Sanskrit inscriptions in South-east Asia as early as the seventh century.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

• 1 and 2 only
• 1 and 3 only
• 2 and 3 only
• 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

• Statement 1 is correct: In the history of Indian mathematics and epigraphy, the copper-plate grant known as the Mankani plates of Taralasvamin (dated Kalachuri Era 346 = 595-596 CE) uses a decimal place-value notation to record numbers, making it the earliest known epigraphic instance of the system in India.
• Statement 2 is correct: By the 9th century CE (during the Rashtrakuta, Pratihara, and Pala periods), writing numbers with a zero and base-10 positional value became standard practice in stone and copper inscriptions across the subcontinent, replacing the older, cumbersome Brahmi numeral notation.
• Statement 3 is correct: Interestingly, some of the earliest physical inscriptions using the zero and place-value system appear in Sanskritized kingdoms of Southeast Asia (like the Kedukan Bukit inscription in Sumatra and the Sambor inscription in Cambodia), dating back to the 7th century CE. This highlights how rapidly Indian mathematical concepts spread across maritime trade routes.

Chronological and Regional Evolution of the Indian Decimal Place-Value Notation

The development of the place-value system follows a clear timeline from early regional use to a standardized administrative script across the subcontinent and eventually to maritime Southeast Asia.

• Early Epigraphic Records: While Indian mathematical treatises like the Aryabhatiya formulated the place-value framework earlier, the Mankani plates from Gujarat (595–596 CE) provide the earliest undisputed physical evidence of its practical use in a land grant. This document establishes that scribes were already using positional numbers for official dates before the close of the 6th century.
• Subcontinental Standardization: During the 7th and 8th centuries, the place-value method coexisted with older numeral systems. By the 9th century CE, it became the dominant choice for royal charters, land records, and monuments across India, as seen in major edicts like the Gwalior inscription of the Gurjara-Pratiharas.
• Maritime Transnational Diffusion: Indian merchants, scholars, and priests carried this numerical system along Indian Ocean trade routes. Consequently, Sanskrit and Old Khmer stone inscriptions across Sumatra, Java, and Cambodia began recording dates using the decimal place-value system as early as the 7th century CE, predating its universal adoption within India itself.

Comparative Epigraphic Timeline of the Place-Value System