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The Himalayan Club is an organization founded in India in 1928 along the lines of the
The Himalayan Club is an organization founded in India in 1928 along the lines of the Alpine Club
Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...
. The stated mission of the organization was "to encourage and assist Himalayan travel and exploration, and to extend knowledge of the Himalaya and adjoining mountain ranges through science, art, literature and sport." The Club publishes a journal, the Himalayan Journal
The ''Himalayan Journal'' is the annual magazine of the Himalayan Club in India.
History and profile
The magazine was established in 1929. The first editor-in-chief was the English geographer Kenneth Mason. He was a surveyor operating from Shi ...
and has a library. Nandini Purandare from Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
is the current president of The Himalayan Club.
History
The idea to start such an organization was proposed in 1866 by Mr. F. Drew and Mr. W. H. Johnson to the Asiatic Society of Bengal.Douglas Freshfield
Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was president of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club. He was ...
, active member of the Royal Geographic Society wrote in the Alpine Journal in 1884, "The formation at Calcutta or Simla," he said, "of (a) Himalayan Club, prepared to publish Narratives of Science and Adventure' concerning the mountains, would be the most serviceable means to this end." The organization was finally established on 17 February 1928 in the office of Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood. A library was established at Shimla. Some of the 127 founding members were:
* Sir G. L. Corbett, Secretary for Commerce and Industry;
* Major Kenneth Mason of the Survey of India
The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Major General Walter Kirke, acting Chief of the General Staff
* Brigadier E. A. Tandy,
Facebook Group
Climbing and mountaineering organizations Alpine clubs Himalayan studies
Surveyor General of India
The Surveyor General of India is the Head of Department of Survey of India, a department under the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of India. The Surveyor General is also the most senior member of the Survey of India Service, ...
* The Viceroy, Edward Frederick Lindley Wood
* Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood, Commander in Chief
* Sir Malcolm Hailey
William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey, (15 February 1872 – 1 June 1969) known as Sir Malcolm Hailey between 1921 and 1936, was a British peer and administrator in British India.
Education
Hailey was educated at Merchant Taylors' School a ...
, Governor of the Punjab
The governor of the Punjab was head of the British administration in the province of the Punjab. In 1849 the East India Company defeated the Sikh Empire and annexed the Punjab region. The governor-general of India, Lord Dalhousie, implemented a t ...
* Sir Edwin Pascoe, Director of the Geological Survey of India
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...
* Major General Kenneth Wigram
* Brigadier W. L. O. Twiss
* Mr. G. Mackworth Young, Army Secretary
* Mr. J. G. Acheson, Deputy Foreign Secretary
* Major E. O. Wheeler of the Survey of India;
* Captain J. G. Bruce, 6th Gurkha Rifles
The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army, before being transferred to the British Army following India's independence. Originally raised in 1817 as part of the army of the British East India Compa ...
* Edward Oswald Shebbeare
Edward Oswald Shebbeare (3 March 1884 – 11 August 1964) was a British mountaineer, naturalist and forester who served in the Imperial Forest Service. He was a member of the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition and the deputy leader and tra ...
, of the Indian Forest Service
The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is the premier forest service of India. .The IFS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) & the Indian Police Service (IPS). It was constituted in the year 1966 un ...
The membership of the organization grew from 250 in 1928 to 572 in 1946. A library was initially established in Shimla at United Service Institution of India but moved to the Survey of India and in 1932 to New Delhi. In 1947, most of the British members left India but continued to be members. With more members in Calcutta, it was managed from there and the library moved from the Army headquarters to the Calcutta Light Horse Club in 1948. In 1958 the library moved to the Geological Survey of India and in 1966 it moved to the National Library of India in Calcutta. In 1971, it moved back to New Delhi where it was housed in the Central Secretariat and before moving to the Indian International Centre in 1976 where it continues to be located.
Presidents emeritus
*Jagdish Nanavati (2000-2012) *Dr. M.S. Gill (2013-present) *Harish Kapadia (2013-present)References
External links
*{{oweb, https://www.himalayanclub.org/Facebook Group
Climbing and mountaineering organizations Alpine clubs Himalayan studies