Great Mathematician Radhanath Sikdar made history when he first measured the height of Mount Everest. However, when history was written, the achievements of Radhanath Sikdar were forgotten and that is why we will elaborate three points to let the world know about this great man's achievements and why Mt Everest should be renamed Mt Sikdar.
Kenneth Mason, a famous professor at the Oxford University, shared an anecdote related to Mount Everest in one of his lectures. The lecture was titled "Himalayan Romances".
He said that during the census of the Himalayan mountain ranges in the year 1852, a babu (clerk) ran into the office of Sir Andrew Waugh one morning and said that he had discovered the tallest mountain peak in the world. Sir Andrew Waugh became the director of Survey of India after Sir Geaorge Everest and the clerk was none other than Radhanath Sikdar.
During the course of research, we found that Sikdar was the first Indian to get a job in the post of "Computer" in the Survey of India. People used to do all the calculations themselves and such people in Survey of India were called 'Computer', because the basic job of a computer is to calculate. His monthly salary was only Rs 30, which he spent on both his studies and house. Not only that, Radhanath Sikdar did not use any modern equipment to measure the height of Mount Everest.
In the 1830s, the Survey of India team came close to the Himalayan mountain range. At that time, the peak of Kanchenjunga mountain was considered to be the highest mountain peak in the world.
But later a mountain peak named Peak 15 was identified and the work of this measurement was handed over to Radhanath Sikdar. Mount Everest was previously called Peak 15.
When Mahatma Gandhi started an agitation against the British, his aim was not only to free India but also awaken the spirit of nationalism in the minds of the people of India.
Mount Everest is present on the border of Nepal and Tibet and that is why we are discussing this campaign in Nepal.
Radhanath Sikdar was born in 1813 at Calcutta in United Bengal but spent most of his life in Chandannagar in the Hooghly district of present day Bengal. There is also a museum of Radhanath Sikdar in the district where memories associated with him have been preserved. A film is shown every week in this museum to make people aware of the great mathematician that he was.
We floated the idea of renaming Mount Everest to Mount Sikdar because the British robbed him of his credit and gave it to Sir George Everest, who was not even aware that there could be a mountain peak in the world higher than Kanchenjunga. And the highest mountain peak in the world was named after an Englishman who had not even seen it.
