An Indian mathematician calculated it was the world’s highest peak. It ended up named after a man who never saw it, and who didn’t even want the honour. This article covers Mount Everest.
Timeline
- In 1852, Indian mathematician Radhanath Sikdar calculated that “Peak XV” was the world’s highest mountain, using data from the Great Trigonometrical Survey.
- In 1865, the Royal Geographical Society officially named the peak Mount Everest, after Sir George Everest, a former Surveyor General of India.
- On 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to reach the summit.
- A joint Nepal-China survey in 2020 confirmed Everest’s official height as 8,848.86 metres.
Must Know
- Mount Everest sits on the Nepal-China (Tibet) border, in the Mahalangur Himal section of the Himalayas.
- Its Nepali name is Sagarmatha; its Tibetan name is Chomolungma.
- George Everest, the mountain’s namesake, never actually saw the peak during his career.
- Hillary and Tenzing reached the summit via the South Col route, as part of a British expedition led by John Hunt.
- Everest’s height has been revised over time. The earlier widely used figure was 8,848 metres, from a 1954 Survey of India measurement.
Good to Know
- Andrew Waugh, George Everest’s successor as Surveyor General, proposed the name in 1856. He argued the peak had no single local name in common use.
- George Everest reportedly objected to the honour, partly worried that Indians would struggle to pronounce his surname.
- Everest remains one of the world’s most climbed, and most fatal, mountains, drawing hundreds of attempts most seasons.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Sikdar’s calculation came years before the mountain had any famous name. Discovery and naming rights don’t always go to the same person; credit and recognition can separate cleanly.
- Naming a colonial-era survey landmark after a Surveyor General overwrote its local names. This reflects how imperial institutions often erased existing local knowledge systems.
- George Everest’s own discomfort with the honour adds a layer most trivia leaves out. Even the mountain’s namesake saw the naming as a slightly awkward fit.
- Nepal and China jointly confirmed a height correction of just centimetres in 2020. It shows how geopolitics can shape even seemingly pure scientific measurement.
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