The ancient Indian mathematical concept represented by the symbol “0” is zero. Zero can denote an empty quantity and also serve as a placeholder, allowing positional notation to distinguish numbers such as 5, 50, and 500.
The idea developed within South Asian mathematics alongside the decimal place-value system. Indian scholars treated zero as more than a blank space: it became a number that could participate in arithmetic. This framework later traveled westward through scientific and commercial exchange, reaching the Islamic world and eventually Europe; that is why the modern system is often called Hindu-Arabic numerals.
Evidence for zero appears in several historical sources. The Bakhshali manuscript uses a dot as a zero-like placeholder, while a Gwalior inscription dated 876 CE contains an early clearly recognizable circular zero glyph. The rules for calculating with zero were developed and explained by Indian mathematicians including Brahmagupta in the 7th century.
Zero is sometimes confused with the decimal system, infinity, or “nothing” in a philosophical sense. It is a specific mathematical number, not infinity, and its role as a placeholder is distinct from its value as a quantity.