RAS question
The decimal numeral system with place value and zero was developed in India during the:
Correct answer: (D) Gupta period.
The decimal numeral system with place value and zero was developed in India during the Gupta period.
Explanation
The answer is the Gupta period because the decimal place-value system and the concept of zero belong to this phase of ancient Indian mathematics, with Aryabhata using place-value notation and Brahmagupta later formalising rules for zero. SATHEE-IIT Kanpur supports the core point: it states that the decimal place-value system of numeral notation was invented and first used by Indians, and describes AD 500-1200 as the major Siddhantic phase of Indian mathematics beginning with Aryabhata. SATHEE-IIT Kanpur also links Aryabhata's work to decimal-scale parameters and the discovery of zero, and says the symbol for zero was discovered in connection with the decimal expression of numbers. That is why the Gupta-period option fits this development.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Mauryan period is too early for this development: numerical symbols appear in Asoka's time, but the decimal place-value system with zero is tied to the later Aryabhata-Brahmagupta mathematical tradition.
- (B) The Mughal period is much later than the relevant breakthrough in ancient Indian mathematics around Aryabhata and Brahmagupta.
- (C) The Vedic period shows early number names and numeration, but place-value notation with zero developed later in the Aryabhata-Brahmagupta mathematical tradition.
Concept
This tests the ancient Indian science-and-technology strand of the RAS history syllabus, especially India's contribution to mathematics. It recurs because place value and zero are compact examples of how cultural history, intellectual history and exam-ready chronology overlap.