Most of the part of Mt. Everest lies in Nepal. And the remaining part in China. The name given by Nepal is ‘Sagarmatha’. And in China it is called ‘Chomolunga’. But the name widely and officially used all over the world is ‘The Everest’. Isn’t it strange? How can the name of a Nepali mountain be British?

The story is 200 years old. Britain used to rule in India. But they 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 came up with a solution to this, William Lambton. His idea was to measure the 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. And at that time, Theodolites used to be huge. When it was being brought in a ship… France stopped it in the way, mistaking for a weapon. Anyways, the instruments came to India anyhow. And then started… biggest scientific survey of all times. The Great Trigonometric Survey (GTS) The main leader of this was- William Lambton, who was given the position- And his assistant was George Everest. Yes, Everest. When William Lambton died, George Everest became the Surveyor General. And here comes the biggest misconception. George Everest didn’t discover Mt Everest. He didn’t even see it in his lifetime.

When George Everest retired… his assistant Andrew Waugh became Surveyor General and continued the work of GTS. Till then, Kanchenjunga was considered to be the highest peak of the world. Mt. Everest was just another peak amidst the mountains. And the English used to call it Peak XV. A mathematician who was working for Andrew Waugh, Radhanath SIkdhar found out Peak XV to be the highest. Till then, all geographies used to be named by its local name.

Also Read:
Solid Waste Management & Recycle System
Protect Yourself; COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
World Population (Incredible Expansion)

But this didn’t happen in the case of Mt. Everest. Andrew Waugh proposed it to be named after his predecessor George Everest. It’s like…what the hell! George Everest had nothing to do with Mt. Everest. Actually, Everest himself didn’t agree with this. His values were that… any geography must be named after its local name. Later on, some discussions were done in England regarding this n0ame. Some other names too came forward.

But in 1865, Britain’s Royal Geographical Society named the mountain of Nepal- ‘Everest’. ‘Sagarmatha’ name was given to the mountain… by Government of Nepal only in 1965. (Based on the prevailing local name) What do you think? Is it right for a country to name geography of another sovereign nation as they wish? Comment below.