Indian mathematician and surveyor Radhanath Sikdar was probably the first person to identify that Mount Everest (then known as peak XV) was the world's highest peak as he was the first person to calculate the height of the mountain in 1852. However it was officially announced in March 1856.
In 1830, Sir George Everest became the director of Survey of India and in the year 1831, he appointed Radhanath Sikdar, a mathematician from West Bengal, to the post of 'Computer' in the Survey of India.
In the year 1852, Radhanath Sikdar started the work of measuring the mountain peak named 'Peak 15'. At that time, Mount Everest was known by this name. With the help of a special device, Radhanath Sikdar recorded the height of 'Peak 15' at 8839 meters.
What is the controversy around name and height?
- Andrew Waugh named the mountain after his predecessor Sir George Everest.
- Waugh was persistent because the mountain had several names at different locations.
- It was known as Chomolungma in Tibet, Chomolangma by the Sherpas of Nepal and Qomolangma in China.
- The British Geological Survey identified it as Mount Everest in 1860.
- After 100 years, it was rechristened as Sagarmatha by the government of Nepal.
- In 1856, Andrew Waugh announced that Everest was 29,002 feet (8,840 m) high.
- The most accepted elevation of 8,848 m (29,029 ft) was first determined by an Indian survey in 1955.
- It was subsequently reaffirmed by a 1975 Chinese measurement.
- But in both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured.
- In 1999, a US team using satellite technology measured it to be 8,850 metres high.
- In 2005, the People's Republic of China's Everest Expedition Team measured it at 8,844.43 metres without any ice cap.
- The snow depth of 3.5 m again makes it 8848 metres high.
By the end of the 2007 season, there had been 3,679 ascents and the mountain has claimed 210 lives. Although not the most difficult climb in the world, as K2 and Nanga Parbat are far more strenuous climbs, Everest certainly is a difficult and incredibly expensive challenge for most mountaineers.
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