Brahmi numerals

In the oldest inscriptions, 4 looks like a +, reminiscent of the X of neighboring Kharoṣṭhī, and perhaps a representation of 4 lines or 4 directions.

[citation needed] It is sometimes supposed that they may also have come from collections of strokes, run together in cursive writing in a way similar to that attested in the development of Egyptian hieratic and demotic numerals, but this is not supported by any direct evidence.

[citation needed] The sometimes rather striking graphic similarity they have with the hieratic and demotic Egyptian numerals, while suggestive, is not prima facie evidence of an historical connection, as many cultures have independently recorded numbers as collections of strokes.

For instance, 4 "chatur" early on took a shape much like the Kharosthi letter 𐨖 "ch", while 5 "pancha" looks remarkably like Kharosthi 𐨤 "p"; and so on through 6 "ssat" and 𐨮, then 7 "sapta" and 𐨯, and finally 9 nava and 𐨣.

The full set of numerals is not attested until the 1st-2nd century CE, 400 years after Ashoka.