The highest
peak, Mount Everest was first measured in
1856. It was scaled as 8839 m i.e. 29,000 feet high. But it was fixed at 29,002
feet [8840m] high. The arbitrary addition of 2 feet was added to avoid the
impression of a rounded calculation. Another Indian survey in the year 1950
concluded the height to be 29.028 feet. In the year 1998, the American Everest
Expedition installed a GPS unit on the highest bedrock and a value of 29.035
feet [8850 m] was fixed based on this device. Nepal did not agree to this and
holds the view that the height is 8848 m only. The Peoples
Republic of China sent an expedition team in
May 22nd 2005. After months of hard work, China ’s State Bureau of Surveying
and Mapping announced the height of Everest as 8844.43 m. This newest height is
based on the actual rock and not on the snow and ice caps. China claims this to be the most
accurate measurement.
There is not
only lack of consensus in measurement and height, each country has its own name
for Mount Everest . Nepal
calls it Sagarmatha, thereby revealing the pre-historic fact that Himalayas was once ocean .Sagar means sea, matha
means mother. Tibet
calls it Chomolangma, the meaning of the word must be found in Tibetan
language.
To ascertain
this let us look for other evidences.
The book Great Arc by John Key describes the stupendous scientific
expedition undertaken across the Indian sub continent in 19th
century under the British Raj. The Frontline magazine from The Hindu group
interviewed John Key, when he came to Chennai to participate in the 200th
anniversary celebrations of the beginning of Great Arc, and to deliver William
Lampton Commemoration lecture on Great Trigonometrical Survey. In that
interview published in Frontline September 26, 2003 he states:
“The
Great Arc has always been presented as a British achievement. Lambton and
Everest associated with it were British. One has to remember, as someone said
this evening, most of the mathematical work, which is really the most important
aspect was done by…… [Interruption by Frontline correspondent: “By Bengalis?]
“Not just
Bengalis. Precision engineering, necessary for the instrument used in the Great
Arc, is very critical. A lot of these instruments were made in India . The
Great Arc’s senior most instrument designer and engineer was in fact from Arcot
in Tamilnadu.He was called Syed Hussain Mohsin. He was most brilliant instrument
manufacturer. People like Lambton and Everest were heavily indebted to him, and
indeed said so.”
During this
interview John Key answers a pertinent question: Is it true that George Everest
had never seen the peak that is named after him. ?
John Key “He
never saw the peak. It was after him because it was his completion of the
measurement of the Great Arc that made it possible to measure the altitudes of
Himalayan peaks. It was in the course of the measurement of all the peaks
visible at that time that the mountain was discovered. So it was named in his
honour.”
Saint Thomas
Mount was the starting point of the Great Trigonometrical survey. The Great Arc
was just a north-south measurement. The GTS measurement went on until about
1880 within India
itself. After 1880 it extended east and west to Burma ,
Afghanistan
and so on. It extended into Burma ,
Thailand and Laos in the
last 20 years on 19th century.
So it becomes
evident that Syed Hussain Mohsin, the senior most instrument designer and
engineer, with all the experience he gathered from the beginning of survey till
it reached Himalayas , has a unique place,
since his services are acknowledged by both William Lambton and George Everest.
In western countries, any discovery is named after the discoverer. All
scientific names in various fields are derived from their inventor’s name.
Hence it would be most appropriate to change the name of Mount Everest, a peak
on which George Everest never set his foot, to Mount Mohsin ,
duly acknowledging the brain behind the expedition and discovery. The claims of
others have no such impartial endorsement as that of Syed Hussain Mohsin. This
demand, I had made in one of my articles in the book written by me in 2006.
Thamizhar Naadum Thani
Pannpadum : Available at : Mitra Arts and Creations Private Limited 32/8-10
Arcot Road, Kodampakkam Chennai 600024 Pages 144 Price Rs 50.
N.Nandhivarman, General Secretary, Dravida Peravai
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