India contributed nothing to the world. Zero, that important numeral representing nothingness and everything revolutionized human civilization like the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel. Science, mathematics, astronomy, seafaring, engineering, trade, commerce and medicine were all affected by the use of this symbol of nothingness. This awareness of zero representing nothingness may sound a bit metaphysical but the numeral does have metaphysical origins. India and the Mayan civilization of Central America conceived of zero independently of each other. What is important about the numeral is that when it is present in a numerical calculation it multiplies, extends, and transports any other numeral into infinity, as it were.
I am no mathematical genius and was poor in math in my school days, but I have come to appreciate the science of numbers and especially the importance of zero in everyday life. Where would we be without it? Ancient India was obsessed with the realm of the spirit which they viewed as nothingness but containing everything. They understood time as being cyclical rather than linear. Heavenly bodies are set in orbits, seasons change, and lives and flowers live then die, repeating a process of birth, life, death and reincarnation. Everything is connected, everything has an orbit. In the linear concept of time there is birth, life and death, the end of this life when the soul moves on perhaps to a permanent abode. Reincarnation doesn’t figure in this thinking as it does in Indian spirituality. Natural phenomena occur and will repeat regularly as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, warm spells, cold flashes, global warming periods and ice age eras will and do happen. In history, we notice patterns in human behaviour with periods of culture or barbarity. To the Indian (and Mayan) mind these patterns are normal, the mechanics of the universe (or universes?) as everything exists in cyclical movement.
ALSO READ: Nasadiya Sukta: Unique creation tale from Rig Veda – THE NEW INDIAN
Zero was conceived by India and the Maya. In Indian scriptures the process of creation is explained as cells or atoms dividing, becoming two, further dividing and becoming four, dividing and begetting eight entities and so on. Everything begins from a source, that being nothingness, manifesting as matter then dividing and multiplying itself ad infinitum. The calculation of time was an obsession of the Maya too, who saw the recording of days, years and millennia as so important they believed there must be a timekeeper who maintains the record of time lest the universe destroy itself. It comes as no surprise that numbers, divided and multiplied, play a huge role in the expression of Indian civilization. Indian architecture is all about calculations that correspond with the cosmos, as it is with central American architecture.
Ancient civilizations imitated the cosmos on Earth, the imitation of the heavens well understood when examining ancient architecture, urban planning as well as art and music where the various rhythms have a role in the presentation and reproduction of heavenly beauty. In yoga, in pranayama or breath control, in postures of prayer or the art of love making numerals and the concept of zero beginning and ending with nothingness are part of the daily experience. No wonder such a society with its rich tradition of scholastic pursuits focusing on the life of the spirit, researched by rishis in their ashrams throughout the subcontinent as well as being part of the population’s everyday experience would manifest the concept and use of the eternal numeral we call zero. Every temple built in ancient India is a testament to the importance of numbers and mathematics.
ALSO READ: Prithvi Sukta: Dharmic homage to Mother Earth – THE NEW INDIAN
Utilizing the numeral of both nothingness and infinity for centuries it was but a matter of time before it would be discovered by outsiders exploiting it for their use. Alexander The Great opened the Silk Road in Central Asia which saw the exchange of goods and ideas. The Tamil Chola Empire in southern India was a maritime entity controlling the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean from Africa to Southeast Asia. Mastery of the sea gave the Cholas control of the spice trade which had existed for many centuries exporting spices to Egypt, Greece and Rome. The rise of the Umayyad caliphate in Arabia in the 6th century AD saw the expansion of a Muslim empire that would confront the banks of the Indus River. Spices, goods and ideas travelled the Silk Road as the Umayyads were now heirs to Alexander’s empire. However, the greatest gift from India besides ginger or black pepper was the concept of zero. A Buddhist family of Indian heritage living in the Middle East, the Barmakids, were sent to the Indus to retrieve the concept of zero, introducing the numeral to the Arab world.
In the 8th century, the once powerful Umayyads who ruled from the Syrian city of Damascus were overthrown and replaced by the Abbasid caliphate who erected their new capital Baghdad on the banks of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates where civilization first arose. The region the Greeks called Mesopotamia had direct access to the Persian Gulf. The old trade routes of the Sumerians and Babylonians were rekindled. As in ancient times the land between the rivers was once again a centre for trade and commerce with Baghdad at the centre of the world. The new rulers invited the brilliant minds of the day and erected universities, libraries and hospitals as well as religious institutions. The fabled House Of Wisdom united the greatest scholars of the day who would kick off what modern academics call the Islamic Golden Age. The early Abbasids practised religious tolerance towards their subjects, and Baghdad boasted scholars of Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian and Manichaean faiths as well as some Buddhists, Mandeans and Sabians. Ironically in the 10th century, the Abbasid rulers sought to establish a state religion and the tolerance began to wane, the glory of the early years dwindled. The end of Baghdad came when the Mongols under Hulagu Khan sacked it in 1258 AD.
ALSO READ: Vyasa: Homer Of India – THE NEW INDIAN
Thabit ibn Qurra (836-901 AD) a Syriac scholar at the House of Wisdom was the first to interpret the numeral zero and the concept of ‘ten’ by incorporating the principles into Middle Eastern mathematics. He played an important role in preparing the way for such mathematical discoveries as integral calculus and non-Euclidian geometry. In astronomy Thabit was one of the first reformers of the Ptolemaic system. The inhabitants of the region, known as keen merchants and importers of goods found the new calculating system based on zero helpful to examine profits and expenses. A Christian student by the name of Abu Musa Isa continued to expand upon Thabit’s work. Merchants such as the shrewd Phonecians, having traded with Eastern and Western markets for millennia saw their profits increase dramatically by utilizing Thabit’s numerals and calculation concepts. The great scholar Al Kwarizmi expanded on Thabit’s work and created the numeric system we all know and use today.
Ancient connections between Mesopotamia and India were revived. Entities that encourage cultural symbiosis benefit from a productive merchant class. Eventually, with the Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates now controlling lands and peoples as far west as Andalusia the numerals began to be adopted where the Arabs ruled in Spain and Sicily. From these lands, the curious Europeans learned about this simplified manner of calculation and soon replaced clumsy Roman numerals with those which began in far-off India. This is why the numerals used in the West are known as the Hindu Arabic numerals, as they are from India via the domains of the medieval Arab rulers.
The mystique of zero gradually lost its spiritual connections until our own time when the science of algorithms alerted us to the magic of digital numbers and calculations, pointing to the vast expanse of the universe. The study of the heavens made possible by the telescope now relies on numerals defined by the decimal system based on ten and at its inner core, the concept of zero. From nothingness we come and into the infinite we travel. We study it to understand whether nothingness is something or not. Eternal, mystical, prompting us to explore and imagine, contemplate and wonder, just as those brilliant rishis of ancient India did thousands of years ago. Indeed they were correct- all life, all existence is a cycle that goes and comes round and round like the never-failing seasons. India it turns out, gave us everything.
Ismail Butera is a lifelong musician and historian, exploring the intertwining threads of ancient history, mythology, and world cultures through his project ‘Echoes Of Antiquity,’ blending composed recitations and traditional music from diverse civilizations.