Bakhshali manuscript

Common card · No. 474918

The Bakhshali manuscript is an ancient Indian mathematical text written on birch bark that was found in 1881 in the village of Bakhshali, Mardan (near Peshawar in present-day Pakistan, historical Gandhara). It is perhaps "the oldest extant manuscript in Indian mathematics". In 2017, Oxford University carbon-dated samples taken from three folios to 224–383 CE and 885–993 CE. In October 2024, Oxford University revised their earlier dating to 799–1102 CE. The manner and timing of the publication of the 2017 test dates was criticised by a group of Indian mathematical historians (Plofker et al. 2017 and Houben 2018 §3). Up until September 2024 the manuscript was regarded as the earliest known Indian use of a zero symbol. It is written in a form of literary Sanskrit influenced by contemporary dialects.

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