Indian numbering system
Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Contains special charactersTemplate:Use dmy dates The Indian numbering system is used in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh to express large numbers, which differs from the International System of Units. Commonly used quantities include lakh (one hundred thousand) and crore (ten million) Template:Endash written as 1,00,000 and 1,00,00,000 respectively in some locales.[1] For example: 150,000 rupees is "1.5 lakh rupees" which can be written as "1,50,000 rupees", and 30,000,000 (thirty million) rupees is referred to as "3 crore rupees" which can be written as "3,00,00,000 rupees".
There are names for numbers larger than crore, but they are less commonly used. These include arab (100 crore, 109), kharab (100 arab, 1011), nil or sometimes transliterated as neel (100 kharab, 1013), padma (100 nil, 1015), shankh (100 padma, 1017), and mahashankh (100 shankh, 1019). In common parlance (though inconsistent), the lakh and crore terminology repeats for larger numbers. Thus lakh crore is 1012.
In the ancient Indian system, still in use in regional languages of India, there are words for (1062). These names respectively starting at 1000 are sahasra, ayuta, laksha, niyuta, koti, arbhudha, abhja, karva, nikarva, mahapadma, shanmkhu, jaladhi, amtya, madhya, paraardha. In the Indian system, now prevalent in the northern parts,Template:Clarify the next powers of ten are one lakh, ten lakh, one crore, ten crore, one arab (or one hundred crore), and so on.
Multiples
The Indian system is decimal (base-10), same as in the International System of Units, and the first five orders of magnitude are named in a similar way: one (100), ten (101), one hundred (102), one thousand (103), and ten thousand (104). For higher powers of ten, naming diverges. The Indian system uses names for every second power of ten: lakh (105), crore (107), arab (109), kharab (1011), etc. In the rest of the world, long and short scales, there are names for every third power of ten. The short scale uses million (106), billion (109), trillion (1012), etc.
Decimal formatting
The Indian system groups digits of a large decimal representation differently than the International System of Units. The Indian system does group the first three digits to the left of the decimal point, but thereafter, groups by two digits to align with the naming of quantities at multiples of 100.[2]
| Indian | Rest of the world |
|---|---|
| 5,00,000 | 500,000 |
| 12,34,56,789 | 123,456,789 |
| 17,00,00,00,000 | 17,000,000,000 |
| 6,78,90,00,00,00,00,000 | 6,789,000,000,000,000 |
Like English and other locales, the Indian system uses a period as the decimal separator and the comma for grouping, while others use a comma for decimal separator and a thin space or point to group digits.[3]
Pronunciation in English
When speakers of indigenous Indian languages are speaking English, the pronunciations may be closer to their mother tongue; e.g. "lakh" and "crore" might be pronounced /lɑkʰ/, /kɑrɔːr/, respectively.
- lakh /lɑːkʰ/
- crore /kɹɔːɹ/ (or /kɹoʊɹ/ in American English)
- arab /ʌˈɾʌb/
- kharab /kʰʌˈɾʌb/
Names of numbers
The table below includes the spelling and pronunciation of numbers in various Indian languages along with corresponding short scale names.
| Value | Short scale | Indian English | Hindustani Hindi / Urdu |
Marathi | Bengali | Odia | Nepali | Tamil | Telugu | Kannada | Malayalam |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | one | one | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
| 10 | ten | ten | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
| 102 | hundred | hundred | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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| 103 | thousand | thousand | हज़ार / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
| 104 | ten thousand | ten thousand | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
| 105 | hundred thousand | lakh | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
| 106 | million | ten lakh | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
| 107 | ten million | crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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| 108 | hundred million | ten crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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| 109 | billion | Template:Not a typo / hundred crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
| 1010 | ten billion | ten Template:Not a typo / thousand crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
एक खर्व (Template:Translit) |
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| 1011 | hundred billion | kharab / hundred Template:Not a typo / ten thousand crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
एक Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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| 1012 | trillion | ten kharab / one thousand Template:Not a typo / Script error: No such module "anchor".one lakh crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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| 1013 | ten trillion | nil / hundred kharab / ten thousand Template:Not a typo / ten lakh crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
Script error: No such module "Lang". (ek mahāpadma) |
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| 1014 | hundred trillion | ten nil / crore crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
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| 1015 | quadrillion | padma / hundred nil / ten crore crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
एक जलधि शंखू (eka jaladhi śaṅkhū) |
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| 1016 | ten quadrillion | ten padma / hundred crore crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
एक अंत्य (eka antya) |
বঙ্গ
(bongo)Script error: No such module "Lang". |
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| 1017 | hundred quadrillion | shankh / hundred padma / thousand crore crore / lakh lakh crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
एक परार्ध (eka parārdha) |
মহাবঙ্গ
(mohabongo)Script error: No such module "Lang". |
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| 1018 | quintillion | ten shankh / ten thousand crore crore | Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) Script error: No such module "Lang". / Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
एक महापरार्ध (eka mahāparārdha) |
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Historic numbering systems
Numbering systems in Hindu epics
There are various systems of numeration found in various ancient epic literature of India (itihasas). The following table gives one such system used in the Valmiki Ramayana.[4]
| Name | Indian decimal | Value | Short scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1 | 1 | one |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 10 | 10 | ten |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 100 | 102 | hundred |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,000 | 103 | thousand |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 | 105 | hundred thousand |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) |
1,00,00,000 | 107 | ten million |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1012 | trillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1017 | hundred quadrillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1022 | ten sextillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1027 | octillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1032 | hundred nonillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1037 | ten undecillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1042 | tredecillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1047 | hundred quattuordecillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1052 | ten sexdecillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1057 | octodecillion |
| Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Translit) | 1,00,000 Template:Translit | 1062 | hundred novemdecillion |
Other numbering systems
The denominations by which land was measured in the Kumaon Kingdom were based on arable lands and thus followed an approximate system with local variations. The most common of these was a vigesimal (base-20) numbering system with the main denomination called a bisi (see Hindustani number bīs), which corresponded to the land required to sow 20 nalis of seed. Consequently, its actual land measure varied based on the quality of the soil.[5] This system became the established norm in Kumaon by 1891.[6]
Usage in different languages
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Below is a list of translations for the words lakh and crore in other languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent:
| Language | Lakh | Crore | 100 crores (a billion) | 1000 crores (10 billion) | 10,000 crores (100 billion) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assamese | Script error: No such module "Lang". lokhyo, or Script error: No such module "Lang". lakh | Script error: No such module "Lang". kouti, or Script error: No such module "Lang". koti | — | ||
| Bengali | Script error: No such module "Lang". lākhTemplate:Efn, or Script error: No such module "Lang". lokkhoTemplate:Efn | Script error: No such module "Lang". kōṭi | |||
| Burmese | lakhTemplate:Efn | Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "IPA". | |||
| Dhivehi | ލައްކަ la'kha | ކްރޯރް kroaru | |||
| Gujarati | Script error: No such module "Lang". lākh | Script error: No such module "Lang". karoḍ | Script error: No such module "Lang". abaj | — | |
| Hindi | Script error: No such module "Lang". lākh | Script error: No such module "Lang". karoḍ | Script error: No such module "Lang". arab | ||
| Kannada | Script error: No such module "Lang". lakṣha | Script error: No such module "Lang". kōṭi | — | ||
| Khasi | lak | klur or krur | arab | — | kharab |
| Malayalam | Script error: No such module "Lang". laksham | Script error: No such module "Lang". kodi | — | ||
| Marathi | Script error: No such module "Lang". lākh | Script error: No such module "Lang". koṭi, or Script error: No such module "Lang". karoḍ | Script error: No such module "Lang". abja | — | |
| Nepali | Script error: No such module "Lang". lākh | Script error: No such module "Lang". karoḍ | — | ||
| Odia | Script error: No such module "Lang". lôkhyô | Script error: No such module "Lang". koṭi | |||
| Punjabi | lakkh (Gurmukhi: Script error: No such module "Lang"., Shahmukhi: Script error: No such module "Lang".) | karoṛ (Gurmukhi: Script error: No such module "Lang"., Shahmukhi: Script error: No such module "Lang".) | |||
| Rohingya | lák | kurul | — | kuthí | — |
| Sinhala | Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Translit | Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Translit | — | ||
| Tamil | Script error: No such module "Lang". ilaṭcam | Script error: No such module "Lang". kōṭi | |||
| Telugu | Script error: No such module "Lang". lakṣha | Script error: No such module "Lang". kōṭi | |||
| Urdu | Script error: No such module "Lang". lākh | Script error: No such module "Lang". karoṛ | Script error: No such module "Lang". arab | — | Script error: No such module "Lang". kharab |
| Swahili | Script error: No such module "Lang". | — | |||
Formal written publications in English in India tend to use lakh/crore for Indian currency and International numbering for foreign currencies.[7]
Current usage
The official usage of this system is limited to the nations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is universally employed within these countries, and is preferred to the International numbering system.[8]
Sri Lanka and Nepal used this system in the past but has switched to the International numbering system in recent years. In the Maldives, the term lakh is widely used in official documents and local speech. However, the International System of Units is preferred for higher denominations (such as millions).Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Most institutions and citizens in India use the Indian number system. The Reserve Bank of India was noted as a rare exception in 2015,[9] whereas by 2024 the Indian system was used for amounts in rupees and the International system for foreign currencies throughout the Reserve Bank's website.[10]
See also
References
- Notes
- References
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Shapiro is/was an OED employee. The article states: "The opinions and other information contained in the OED blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Oxford University Press."
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Reserve Bank of India, old and new website (known on archive.org since 5 Apr 2024). Retrieved 16 Apr 2024.