In 1852, an Indian surveyor Radhanath Sikdhar, stormed into the office of the Superintendent General, Sir Andrew Waugh with the words " Sir, I have discovered the highest mountain in the world. !"
Till then Everest went by the insipid name of Peak XV and existed as just another entity amongst a chaotic cluster of peaks.
International political dynamics in the early nineteenth century created a logical need for the British Raj to consolidate its power in India. "Proper control" of India necessitated a rich understanding of her borders, which comprised the mysterious Himalayan Mountains. Thus began the early triangulation in 1764, first around the Ganges. From 1823 to 1843, during the tenure of Colonel George Everest, a grid survey of the whole "Raj" was carried out. This also included, very significantly, the calculation of the great meridian arc rising from Cape Comorin at the Southern end of the Peninsula and crossing over the Himalayan chain. This in turn led to determining the mathematical geoid on which the heights of mountains could be calculated.
The 1830s saw surveys within the sight of the Himalayas and in fact the explorers, Celebrooke and Webb studying the source of the Ganges spoke of mountains over five miles high and higher than anything in the Andes ! However, since Tibet, Nepal, China, Sikkim and Bhutan could not be accessed, measurements were carried out at stations quite away from the mountains in question.
In 1847, detailed surveys of Himalayan peaks were carried out by Survey of India under Col Andrew Waugh. The instruments were sometimes located over 200 kms from the mountains ! This was a time when the Kangchenjunga was vastly considered to be the highest peak in the world. Many surveys were carried out at Sandakphu and Phalut ( see previous articles ) in the West Bengal - Sikkim Himalayas. It was here that simultaneous views of both Kangchenjunga and Everest could be had.
In the autumn of 1847, Waugh observed an icy peak that appeared kind of higher than Kangchenjunga. The peak was christened "Peak B". With more observations, some as close as 170 kms of "Peak B", it was clear that it was indeed higher than the Kangchenjunga. At Dehra Dun, the calculations were reexamined and Waugh's assistant Michael Hennessy named important peaks as Roman numerals. Kangchenjunga became Peak IX and Peak B became Peak XV. And then the heights were released officially in 1856.
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