It's perhaps worth pointing out that Dominique Soutif's doctoral thesis, defended at Paris III in 2009, seems to be a little more up-to-date on this matter. Dominique Soutif there corrected a consistent misreading of the last digit in these various dates and established that they all in fact read 604.
In his thesis (Organisation religieuse et profane du temple khmer du VIIe au XIIIe siècle. Volume I : Les biens du dieu, p. 18), he says:
« En effet, ses premières représentations connues apparaissent simultanément au Cambodge à Trapeang Prei et à Sumatra à Palembang en 604 śaka, soit 682/683 de notre ère. »
I don’t have it beside me, but I think that the same points are also covered in this article of his of 2008 published in the Cambodian journal Siksacakr: « Dénombrer les biens du dieu ; étude de la numération du khmer ancien (vie-xiie siècle çaka) », Siksâcakr 8, p. 51-80 [paru en 2010 ; traduction khmère, p. 172-206].
Dominic Goodall
The zero (annotated as a dot or small circle in the tens position) is also used in three Sriwijayan inscriptions from Sumatra from the same time (605–608 shaka / 682–687 CE). This is 2 centuries earlier than the "Gwalior zero". See:
SRIWIJAYA AND THE FIRST ZEROS
Anthony Diller
Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 68, No. 1 (268) (1995), pp. 53-66
NEW ZEROS AND OLD KHMER
Anthony Diller
Mon-Khmer Studies 25, 1996, pp. 125-132
À PROPOS DE L'ORIGINE DES CHIFFRES ARABES
- Andrea Acri
- Sent from my iPhone
Here is a nice presentation of the evidence:
--
Professor Dominik Wujastyk,
Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity,
University of Alberta, Canada.
_______________________________________________
INDOLOGY mailing list
INDOLOGY@list.indology.infoindology-owner@list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing committee)
http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or unsubscribe)
Dominic Goodall
École française d'Extrême-Orient,
19, rue Dumas,
Pondicherry 605001
Tel. +91 413 2334539