Zeroing In

The debate over the origins of zero is not yet over.

- Rakesh Kalshian

WITH THE bjp winning most of the states in the assembly elections, these are heydays for Hindu cultural revivalists. The air is thick with fabulous claims—ancient Indians flew planes and were accomplished plastic surgeons! But some aspects of Indian history might deserve a serious and honest rethink, for example, the history of science and mathematics. Last year, a team of Indian and international scholars launched Project Zero, which, to quote from the project’s website, is an “attempt to settle once and for all the continuing controversy in the world as to when, where and why the zero digit was invented”.

But isn’t it a given that the Indians invented the zero? Our history books have always informed us so, which was even reinforced many times over through media and films. Manoj Kumar, the master projector of saccharine patriotism on celluloid, immortalised India’s intellectual stamp on zero in one of his famous songs glorifying Bharat.

In fact, many scholars believe that the modern number system, and not just the enigmatic zero, originated in India. Europe had been using the Roman number system which clearly lacked zero for centuries. But with the publication of