hinduarab

HinduArab is a term occasionally used to describe the historical convergence between Hindu and Arab civilizations, particularly where Indian intellectual traditions intersected with Islamic scholarship along maritime and overland trade routes. It is not a standard scholarly label; more common descriptors include Indo-Arabic or Hindu-Arabic, which emphasize the numerical system and broader cultural exchange.

Historical development centers on the transmission of knowledge between India and the Islamic world from roughly the 8th to the 12th centuries. Indian mathematics and astronomy were translated into Arabic in centers such as Baghdad, contributing to a shared scientific vocabulary. The Hindu-Arabic numeral system—developed in India and refined by Indian scholars—was adopted by Islamic scholars and later transmitted to Europe, shaping medieval and early modern mathematics. Indian works on algebra, trigonometry, and astronomy influenced Islamic science, while Arabic and Persian scholarly traditions facilitated transmission back to Indian scholars, creating a bidirectional exchange.

Cultural impact of this interchange extends beyond numbers to linguistic and methodological influences. Terminology and concepts from Indian mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered Islamic scholarly discourse, and, through translations and exchanges, contributed to a broader Indo-Arabic intellectual sphere. The term HinduArab, when used, is generally employed to highlight these cross-cultural flows rather than to denote a discrete historical polity or movement.

See also: Hindu-Arabic numerals, Indo-Arabic culture, Silk Road, Indian Ocean trade.