20.6.11
Mount Everest Nepal - China
Mt. Everest is on the border of Nepal and China. The Southern side of the mountain is accessible from Nepal, and the Northern side from Tibet (which is now an autonomous region of China). It has been climbed many times from both sides.
The mountain is called Sagarmatha in Nepal, and the Tibetans call it Chomolungma (which means mother goddess of the Earth).
In the early 19th century, the Survey of India (then British India) carried out a very elaborate mapping exercise called the 'Great Arc of India', which used Triangulation and Trigonometry to arrive at accurate distances between two points, as well as heights of peaks. This survey started in South India near Madras, and progressed gradually northwards through difficult territory. George Everest, then Surveyor General of India supervised most of this work. When the Survey reached the Terai (now Bihar), the Surveyors began triangulating the various Himalayan peaks that they could see at a great distance in the horizon. They could not enter Nepal as it was then 'forbidden territory'. The Surveyors sighted what they called as 'Peak XV' and sent the data to their Head Office in Kolkata. At Kolkata, a Bengali employee named Radhanath Sikdar, who worked as a 'Calculator' (those days humans with a flair for mathematics did the calculations manually which are now done using computers!) derived the height of Peak XV from the Survey data and sent in a report to the then Surveyor General of India, Andrew Waugh, that Peak XV appeared to be the highest point on Earth. It was then the custom of the British to retain local names for peaks. As they could not enter Nepal, they did not know that this peak was referred to as Sagarmatha. Even though there were rumours that the Tibetans knew this peak and it had a name, Waugh made a suggestion that this peak had no local name and hence it should be called as 'Everest' in honour of his predecessor and boss, Sir. George Everest (who had by then retired and returned to England). The name stuck, and we all now know this peak as Everest.
The mountain is called Sagarmatha in Nepal, and the Tibetans call it Chomolungma (which means mother goddess of the Earth).
In the early 19th century, the Survey of India (then British India) carried out a very elaborate mapping exercise called the 'Great Arc of India', which used Triangulation and Trigonometry to arrive at accurate distances between two points, as well as heights of peaks. This survey started in South India near Madras, and progressed gradually northwards through difficult territory. George Everest, then Surveyor General of India supervised most of this work. When the Survey reached the Terai (now Bihar), the Surveyors began triangulating the various Himalayan peaks that they could see at a great distance in the horizon. They could not enter Nepal as it was then 'forbidden territory'. The Surveyors sighted what they called as 'Peak XV' and sent the data to their Head Office in Kolkata. At Kolkata, a Bengali employee named Radhanath Sikdar, who worked as a 'Calculator' (those days humans with a flair for mathematics did the calculations manually which are now done using computers!) derived the height of Peak XV from the Survey data and sent in a report to the then Surveyor General of India, Andrew Waugh, that Peak XV appeared to be the highest point on Earth. It was then the custom of the British to retain local names for peaks. As they could not enter Nepal, they did not know that this peak was referred to as Sagarmatha. Even though there were rumours that the Tibetans knew this peak and it had a name, Waugh made a suggestion that this peak had no local name and hence it should be called as 'Everest' in honour of his predecessor and boss, Sir. George Everest (who had by then retired and returned to England). The name stuck, and we all now know this peak as Everest.
Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest
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