Why is ‘Everest’ called ‘Everest’, though its local name is Sagarmatha and Chomolungma?
Location-wise, the majority of the part of Mount Everest lies in Nepal, and the remaining portion lies in China. The official name given to the mountain by Nepal is ‘Sagarmatha’, while in China and different mountainous parts of Nepal, it is called ‘Chomolungma’. However, the name widely and officially used all over the world for the mountain is ‘Everest’. Isn’t it strange? How can the name of a Nepali mountain be British? Why is it called ‘Everest’?
Who discovered Mount Everest? How was it discovered?
The story is 200 years old. It was a time when Britain had a rule in India. But during that time, the British rulers didn’t have any precise map of this geography. At that time, it was a major problem for them. And then, measuring such huge geography wasn’t an easy task as well. But one British soldier named William Lambton came up with a solution to this. His idea was to measure geography by using Trigonometry. But this wasn’t an easy task as well. Very big towers were to be built for this. Instruments needed to be very accurate. This was a time when Theodolites used to be huge. When the Theodolite was being brought into a ship, France stopped it in the way, mistaking it for a weapon. Anyways, the instruments came to India anyhow. And then started the biggest scientific survey of all time– The Great Trigonometric Survey (GTS).
William Lambton was the main leader of this project, who was given the position of Surveyor General of India at that time. The famous, George Everest, was his assistant during this. When William Lambton died, George Everest became the Surveyor General of India. One great misconception among people is that it was George Everest who discovered Mount Everest. But the fact is, George Everest never even saw the mountain in his lifetime. It was Radhnath Sikhdar, who actually discovered it. When George Everest retired, his assistant Andrew Waugh became the Surveyor General and continued the work of GTS. Till then, Kanchenjunga was considered to be the highest peak in the world. Mt. Everest was just another peak amidst the mountains, and the British used to call it Peak XV. Radhanath Sikhdhar was a mathematician who was working for Andrew Waugh during that time. Radhanath SIkdhar found Peak XV to be the highest peak in the world.
The naming of Mount Everest
Till the time Mount Everest was discovered by the British as the highest peak in the world, all newly found geographies used to be named by their local name. But this didn’t happen in the case of Mt. Everest. Andrew Waugh proposed it to be named after his predecessor George Everest. Sir Everest, in fact, didn’t agree with this himself as his values were that any geography must be named after its local name. Later on, some discussions were made in England regarding this name. Some other names too came forward. But in 1865, Britain’s Royal Geographical Society named the mountain of Nepal- ‘Everest’.
Later on, in 1965 the Government of Nepal officially named it ‘Sagarmatha’. This name was suggested by historian Baburam Acharya based on a prevailing local name.
Share this article
