Gupta Period: A Turn in the History of Śūnya

Use of an alphabetic notation of numerals, the publication of the Amarakośa (Nāmalingānuśāsana) (a work of encyclopedic nature) due to Amara Siṁha, and the start of a standardizing process of writing numerals, an introduction to algebraic concept with numbers and the algebraic definition of zero (aided by Amarakośa and Vaiśeṣika philosophical aphorisms) due to Brahmagupta, the use of the round symbol of zero from the eighth century (Ragholi plates of Jayavardhana-II and Gwalior inscriptions) onwards, the transmission of the decimal representation of numbers and the transport of the circular zero notation and the decimal representation of numbers tp Arab, China (during the Tang Dynasty), and lastly to Europe via Arab intermediaries form the set of the constituent topics of this chapter.