6 in Kharoshthi
Read right to left: 4 + 2.
ANCIENT · DECIMAL, WITH GROUPS OF 20
Kharoshthi
Kharoṣṭhī
Right-to-left notation with signs for one, two, three, four, ten, twenty, and one hundred.
Convert numbers- Place
- Gandhāra · northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan
- Period / variant
- Manuscript forms · c. 1st century CE
EXAMPLES
1996 · Decimal, with groups of 20
Unicode’s worked example: 1000 + (4 + 4 + 1) × 100 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 4 + 2, read right to left.
Worked example
Write 1996 in Kharoshthi
Read from right to left. Hundreds use a coefficient; the remaining signs add their own values.
Start at the right with 1 thousand sign: 1 × 1,000 = 1,000.
In reading order, 4 + 4 + 1 comes before the hundred sign. Multiply that whole group by 100: (4 + 4 + 1) × 100 = 900.
Continue left through 4 20 signs. Add 4 × 20 = 80.
Continue left through 1 10 sign. Add 10.
Continue left through 1 4 sign. Add 4.
Continue left through 1 2 sign. Add 2.
Check
1,000 + (4 + 4 + 1) × 100 + 4 × 20 + 10 + 4 + 2 = 1,996
Sources and notation notes
The Unicode Standard 17.0, chapter 14 · Unicode Kharoshthi character chart
Meet the symbols
Each tile shows a sign and what it means. A sign can stand for a whole amount, such as 10 or 100.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 10
- 20
- 100
- 1,000
How the symbols fit together
Begin at the right-hand end. Read small groups of signs, then add the amounts those groups represent.
- For 42, start on the right with a twenty sign, then another twenty sign: 20 + 20 = 40.
- Continue left to the two sign. Add 40 + 2 = 42.
- Units use signs for 1–4. For six, combine a four sign and a two sign: 4 + 2 = 6. Tens use repeated twenties and, when needed, a ten.
- For hundreds, first read the small-number group that comes before the hundred sign in reading order, then multiply that amount by 100. Thousands use repeated thousand signs. Add these larger groups to the rest; there is no zero sign.
42 in Kharoshthi
Read right to left: 20 + 20 + 2.
1996 in Kharoshthi
Unicode’s worked example: 1000 + (4 + 4 + 1) × 100 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 4 + 2, read right to left.
There is no zero sign and no separate five-to-nine signs. The app supports positive integers through 9,999; fractional and later regional practices are outside this implementation. Display order follows the script rather than reversing the arithmetic explanation.
History
Kharoshthi accompanied Gāndhārī manuscripts and inscriptions in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. The numeral shapes here follow the first-century manuscript tradition documented by Unicode.
How to read it
Begin at the right-hand end. Read small groups of signs, then add the amounts those groups represent.
- For 42, start on the right with a twenty sign, then another twenty sign: 20 + 20 = 40.
- Continue left to the two sign. Add 40 + 2 = 42.
- Units use signs for 1–4. For six, combine a four sign and a two sign: 4 + 2 = 6. Tens use repeated twenties and, when needed, a ten.
- For hundreds, first read the small-number group that comes before the hundred sign in reading order, then multiply that amount by 100. Thousands use repeated thousand signs. Add these larger groups to the rest; there is no zero sign.
Limits
There is no zero sign and no separate five-to-nine signs. The app supports positive integers through 9,999; fractional and later regional practices are outside this implementation. Display order follows the script rather than reversing the arithmetic explanation.
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