Brahmagupta is credited with introducing the modern concept of zero in ancient India.
In his 628 CE work Brahmasphutasiddhanta, Brahmagupta treated zero as a number and described arithmetic rules involving zero and negative numbers. This was a major development because earlier numeral systems often used placeholders without fully treating zero as an independent number.
Brahmagupta was an Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived from about 598 to 668 CE. His work also addressed quadratic equations, arithmetic progressions, and astronomical calculations. Later scholars transmitted Indian mathematical ideas through the Islamic world and onward to Europe.
Aryabhata used a place-value system but did not give the same complete arithmetic treatment of zero. Al-Khwarizmi helped spread mathematical methods based on Hindu-Arabic numerals centuries later. The history of zero was cumulative, but Brahmagupta’s rules are a particularly clear milestone.