written.institute
০১২৩৪৫৬৭৮৯

Bengali numerals

A place-value system in base 10, with a zero.

StructurePositional — a digit's value depends on the column it sits in
Base10
ZeroYes — a true zero, holding an empty place
RegionBengal — Bangladesh and eastern India
Datesfrom the Brahmi numeral line
UnicodeU+09E6–U+09EF
Status living

Curatorial note

One of the Brahmi-descended decimal sets, in daily use for one of the world's most-spoken languages. The digit shapes diverge from Devanagari's while the system underneath is identical — a reminder that the numerals travelled as a method, and each script drew them in its own hand.

Specimen

The digits, at size
56 ০১২৩৪৫৬৭৮৯
40 ০১২৩৪৫৬৭৮৯
26 ০১২৩৪৫৬৭৮৯
17 ০১২৩৪৫৬৭৮৯

Where this sits

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