Indic Siyaq Number 300

It means “account,” the South Asian name for this system.

This character is the system’s mark for the hundreds order.

Why was siyaq shorthand?

It let trained bookkeepers write sums compactly, hard for outsiders to read.

The signs grew from abbreviated, calligraphic Arabic number-words. That distinguished siyaq from abjad, where alphabet letters carried numeric values.

The earliest surviving evidence for the wider system dates to the early 10th century CE; Baghdad financial accounts survive from 918–919 CE. Later forms served Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal administrations. Siyaq was still taught in India and Pakistan until the second half of the 20th century.