How do Arabic, Devanagari, Bengali, Tibetan, and Thai numeral symbols compare with Hindu-Arabic numerals?
The term "Hindu-Arabic numerals" refers to the set of ten symbols (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0) that form the basis of the modern decimal number system. While these symbols are often associated with Western usage, they originated in India and evolved from ancient Brahmi numerals.123
Many other modern numeral systems share this same Indian origin, having evolved from the same ancestral Brahmi script as they diffused across different regions. Consequently, systems such as Arabic, Devanagari, Bengali, Tibetan, and Thai are all related to the Hindu-Arabic system, as they represent the same numerical values using distinct regional scripts.24
The following table illustrates how these symbols compare:
| System | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Hindu-Arabic | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| Arabic | ١ | ٢ | ٣ | ٤ | ٥ | ٦ | ٧ | ٨ | ٩ | ٠ |
| Devanagari | १ | २ | ३ | ४ | ५ | ६ | ७ | ८ | ९ | ० |
| Tibetan | ༡ | ༢ | ༣ | ༤ | ༥ | ༦ | ༧ | ༨ | ༩ | ༠ |
| Bengali | ১ | ২ | ৩ | ৪ | ৫ | ৬ | ৭ | ৮ | ৯ | ০ |
| Thai | ๑ | ๒ | ๓ | ๔ | ๕ | ๖ | ๗ | ๘ | ๙ | ๐ |
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