who invented zero?

The invention of zero as a number is credited primarily to the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta in the 7th century CE. He was the first to treat zero not just as a placeholder but as a number with its own properties and rules for arithmetic operations, such as addition and subtraction involving zero. Earlier Indian mathematician Aryabhatta used zero as a placeholder, paving the way for Brahmagupta’s formal definition. The concept and symbol for zero, called "shunya" in Sanskrit meaning "empty" or "void," originated in ancient India and later spread to the Middle East and Europe, profoundly impacting mathematics and science.