Sinhala numerals to record donations given by royals and other people who were belonged to the upper echelon of ancient Sinhala society to Buddhist temples. Brahmi numerals are ancestors of Arabic numerals which are used presently worldwide. Brahmi numerals had symbols for 10,100, and 1000. Number 1 and 10 in Brahmi have not been found in Sri Lanka up to now. Therefore, shapes of these two numerals have been hypothesized taking into consideration of shapes of Brahmi Number 1 and 10 found in India without physical evidence . Sinhala rock inscriptions suddenly become barren of numerals from A.D. 400 onwards. Tradition of
Sinhala numerals on numerals and numerations found in Sinhala right before British occupation of Kandy. In modern Sinhala, Arabic numerals, which were introduced by Portuguese, Dutch and English, is used for writing numbers and carrying out calculations. Roman numerals are used for writing dates and for listing items or words in Sinhala though at present, Roman numerals are not commonly used and they were also introduced by Westerners who invaded Sri Lanka. It is accepted that Arabic numerals had evolved from Brahmi numerals. It had also been discovered by Sri Lankan archeologists that Brahmi numerals were used in the ancient Sri Lanka