Over 1,800-year-old text reveals discovery of zero

Written in a form of Sanskrit, text suggests it was a form of training manual for merchants

PESHAWAR: Bakhshali manuscript, a mathematical text discovered in 1881 from Khyber-Pakhtukhwa dating back to Kushan dynasty which revealed discovery of zero, was considered as a new feather in the rich history of Gandhara region.

“The recent discovery about first use of zero unearthed through Bakhshali manuscript in Oxford University at England highlights rich scientific approach of the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa in the ancient times,” observed Nawaz Uddin, Research Officer at Peshawar Museum.

Giving details about the discovery, Nawaz said the Bakhshali manuscript was a mathematical text written on birch bark that was discovered by a farmer in 1881 from fields at a village in Bakhshali (currently Mardan but at that time Peshawar district) of the then North West Frontier Province under British Raj.

The manuscript was taken to UK from Peshawar in 1902 and was found to be the oldest extant text in Indian mathematics with portions dated to CE 224-383, he added.

The manuscript, around 1,800 years old, belongs to Kushan dynasty era when Gandhara was considered as seat of learning and people from across the world came there for getting knowledge, Nawaz apprised.

A recent research has given new importance to the script.

The translation of the text, which is written in a form of Sanskrit, suggests it was a form of training manual for merchants trading across the Silk Road and it includes practical arithmetic exercises and algebra, he elaborates.

“There is a lot of if someone buys this and sells this how much have they got left,” said Marcus Du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University as reported by The Guardian newspaper.

“This becomes the birth of the concept of zero in its own right and this is a total revolution that happens out of India,” Du Sautoy added.

These surprising research results regarding discovery of zero testify to the subcontinent’s rich and longstanding scientific tradition, Richard Ovenden, head of Bodleian Library of Oxford University told The Guardian newspaper.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2017.