Baburam Acharya


Baburam Acharya was a Nepalese historian and literary scholar. He is known as the historian laureate of Nepal. The four part biography of King Prithivi Narayan Shah, founder of Modern Nepal is a key series of work he created. He is known for the study of ancient Nepalese inscriptions.

Sagarmatha

Nepal’s eminent historian late Baburam Acharya is credited with the Nepali name Sagarmatha for Mount Everest that straddles Nepal-China border. Nepal had no official name of its own for the world’s tallest peak in Nepali until the historian found out one. What may not be true however is that he coined the name for the mountain.
Baburam wrote an essay in the late 1930s in which he said that among the local populace of the remote Everest region the mountain was popular by the name Sagarmatha ; some even called it Jhomolongma.
In his own words:
The then rulers of Nepal took exception of publication of the essay and its publication, and the historian was admonished. In his book A Brief Account of Nepal, Baburam wrote
In his another book China, Tibet and Nepal Baburam wrote: "The name Sagarmatha already existed; I only discovered it; it is not that I christened the mountain with a new name."
Two decades after the publication of the essay, the Nepalese government gave official recognition to the name.

Publications

Stamp issued by the Government of Nepal March 12, 1973

Further Studies