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, 105) and crore (ten million, 107) – 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[clarification needed] (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,[clarification needed] 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 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 is represented 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
English
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.
दस अरब / دس ارب (das arab) एक हज़ार करोड़ / ایک ہزار کروڑ (ēk hazār karōṛ)
एक खर्व (ek kharva)
খর্ব (khôrbō)
হাজার কোটি (hāzār kōṭi)
दश अर्ब (daś arba)
கும்பம் (kumpam)
వెయ్యి కోట్లు (veyyi kōṭlu)
1011
1,00,00,00,00,000
hundred billion
kharab/ hundredarab/ tenthousandcrore
खरब / کھرب (kharab)
एक निखर्व (ek nikharva)
মহাখর্ব (môhākhôrbō) দশ হাজার কোটি (dôś hājār kōṭi)
एक खर्ब (ēk kharba)
கணம் (kaṇam)
పది వేల కోట్లు (padi vēla kōṭlu)
1012
10,00,00,00,00,000
trillion
tenkharab/ onethousandarab/ onelakhcrore
दस खरब / دس کھرب (das kharab) एक लाख करोड़ / ایک لاکھ کروڑ (ēk lākh karōṛ)
एक पद्म (ēk padma)
শঙ্খ (śôṅkhō) লাখ কোটি (lākh kōṭi)
दश खर्ब (daś kharba)
கற்பம் (kaṟpam)
లక్ష కోట్లు (lakṣa kōṭlu)
1013
1,00,00,00,00,00,000
ten trillion
nil/ hundredkharab/ tenthousandarab/ tenlakhcrore
नील / نیل (nīl)
एक महापद्म (ek mahāpadma)
মহাশঙ্খ (môhāśôṅkhō) দশ লাখ কোটি (dôś lākh kōṭi)
नील (nīl)
நிகற்பம் (nikaṟpam)
పది లక్షల కోట్లు (padi lakṣala kōṭlu)
1014
10,00,00,00,00,00,000
hundred trillion
tennil/ crorecrore
दस नील / دس نیل (das nīl) एक करोड़ करोड़ / ایک کروڑ کروڑ (ēk karōṛ karōṛ)
एक शंखू (ēk śaṅkhū)
পদ্ম (pôddō) একশ লাখ কোটি (êkśō lākh kōṭi) শতলক্ষ কোটি (śôtôkōṭi lôkkō)
दश नील (daś nīl)
பதுமம் (patumam)
కోటి కోట్లు (kōṭi kōṭlu)
1015
1,00,00,00,00,00,00,000
quadrillion
padma/ hundrednil/ tencrorecrore
पद्म / پدم (padma)
एक जलधि शंखू (eka jaladhi śaṅkhū)
মহাপদ্ম (môhāpôddō) হাজার লাখ কোটি (hāzār lākh kōṭi)
पद्म (padma)
சங்கம் (caṅkam)
పది కోట్ల కోట్లు (padi kōṭla kōṭlu)
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
एक (ēka)
0,00,001
1
one
दश (daśa)
0,00,010
10
ten
शत (śata)
0,00,100
102
hundred
सहस्र (sahasra)
0,01,000
103
thousand
लक्ष (lakṣa)
1,00,000
105
hundred thousand
कोटि (kōṭi)
1,00,00,000
107
ten million
शङ्कु (śaṅku)
1,00,000 koṭi
1012
trillion
महाशङ्कु (mahāśaṅku)
1,00,000 śaṅku
1017
hundred quadrillion
वृन्द (vr̥nda)
1,00,000 mahāśaṅku
1022
ten sextillion
महावृन्द (mahāvr̥nda)
1,00,000 vr̥nda
1027
octillion
पद्म (padma)
1,00,000 mahāvr̥nda
1032
hundred nonillion
महापद्म (mahāpadma)
1,00,000 padma
1037
ten undecillion
खर्व (kharva)
1,00,000 mahāpadma
1042
tredecillion
महाखर्व (mahākharva)
1,00,000 kharva
1047
hundred quattuordecillion
समुद्र (samudra)
1,00,000 mahākharva
1052
ten sexdecillion
ओघ (ogha)
1,00,000 samudra
1057
octodecillion
महौघ (mahaugha)
1,00,000 ogha
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]
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).[citation needed]
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]
↑ "Knowing our Numbers". Department Of School Education And Literacy. National Repository of Open Educational Resources. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
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