Indoarabes

Indoarabes refers to the historical and cultural exchange between the Indian subcontinent and the Arab world, particularly during the medieval period. It encompasses a broad range of interactions in trade, science, philosophy, and translation that contributed to a shared intellectual repertoire across regions bordering the Indian Ocean.

Historically, contact intensified through Indian Ocean trade routes and the expansion of Islamic empires, roughly from the 8th to the 15th centuries. Indian mathematical and astronomical ideas were transmitted to the Islamic world through translations and scholarly collaboration, influencing Islamic astronomy and, later, European mathematics. The Indian decimal numeral system, including the concept of zero, was adopted in the Islamic world and played a crucial role in the development of the modern numeral system.

Cultural exchanges occurred in multiple domains. In mathematics and astronomy, Indian algorithms and astronomical tables entered Arabic and Persian scholarship, often through texts that circulated under names such as Sindhind or through translations, and were synthesized with existing Islamic sciences. Medical, pharmacological, and literary traditions also circulated, and Persianate culture—bridging Arabic and Indian intellectual traditions—accelerated cross-cultural dissemination.

Today, the term Indoarabes appears in historical discussions of the wider Indo-Arabic intellectual sphere or the Indian Ocean world. It highlights how cross-cultural exchange shaped scientific methods, terminology and educational networks across continents, laying groundwork for later scientific developments.