Development of Arabic numerals. Table illustrating the development and spread of numerals from the 1st to 14th centuries AD, as published in 1888 by the British philologist and canon Isaac Taylor (1829-1901). It is now widely accepted that today's symbols are Western Arabic numerals which originated from Indian Brahmi numerals. The nine Hindu-Arabic symbols (glyphs) had been introduced into Europe in the 13th century, principally by Fibonacci, but only came into general use two centuries later. Table from The Story of the Alphabet (Edward Clodd, 1900).