It is far, far worse than that. Algebra was transported across islamic territory by the muslim slave trade. That is the big contribution of islam. Some Hindu pr

It is far, far worse than that. Algebra was transported across islamic territory by the muslim slave trade. That is the big contribution of islam. Some Hindu priests got kidnapped by muslims during the conquest of India, and after got knows how many abuses got sold to Venetian traders in Northern Africa. Venetians set them free, and gave them a platform in a monastery, and after a few decades of writing books and a number of false starts, algebra spread (in the sense that the current digits started replacing Roman numerals).