https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=24.239.131.71Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]2026-08-02T00:30:15ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Himalayan_Club&diff=452006The Himalayan Club2025-04-10T10:00:41Z<p>24.239.131.71: </p>
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<div>{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2022}}<br />
[[File:Famous mountaineers of India at 2017 Banff Mountain Film Festival venue IMF Delhi P 20170325 181352.jpg|thumb|Mountaineer Divyesh Muni (VP of Himalayan club in 2017), Rita Gombu (Daughter of Mountaineer late [[Nawang Gombu]]) and Motup Chewang (VP of Himalayan club in 2017) at the 2017 Banff Mountain Film Festival venue IMF Delhi|alt=]]<br />
'''The Himalayan Club''' is an organization founded in India in 1928 along the lines of the [[Alpine Club (UK)|Alpine Club]]. 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]] and has a library. Nandini Purandare from [[Mumbai]] is the current president of The Himalayan Club.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Himalayan Club|url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/|access-date=2020-08-11|website=The Himalayan Club}}</ref><br />
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== History ==<br />
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.<ref name=":0" /> [[Douglas Freshfield]], active member of the [[Royal Geographical Society|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."<ref name=":0" /> The organization was finally established on 17 February 1928 in the office of Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood. A library was established at Shimla.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|author=Corbett, G.L.|year=1929|title=The founding of the Himalayan Club|journal=The Himalayan Journal|volume=1|pages=1–3|quote=MR. DOUGLAS FRESHFIELD tells me that the idea of a Himalayan Club goes back so far as 1866, when it was formally suggested to the Asiatic Society of Bengal by Mr. F. Drew and Mr. W .H. Johnson. And Mr. Freshfield himself, writing in The Alpine Journal in 1884, advised that our knowledge of the Himalaya might thus be extended. "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 idea must have recurred to many, but it never took shape, not because a Club was not wanted, but because in this land of endlessness it is only now and then that the two or three are gathered together.}}</ref> Some of the 127<ref name=":0" /> founding members were:<ref name=lib /><br />
* [[Geoffrey Corbett|Sir G. L. Corbett]], Secretary for Commerce and Industry;<br />
* [[Kenneth Mason (geographer)|Major Kenneth Mason]] of the [[Survey of India]]<br />
* Mr. T. E. T. Upton, Solicitor to the Government of India<br />
* [[Walter Kirke|Major General Walter Kirke]], acting Chief of the General Staff<br />
* Brigadier E. A. Tandy, [[Surveyor General of India]]<br />
* The Viceroy, [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Edward Frederick Lindley Wood]]<br />
* [[William Birdwood|Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood]], Commander in Chief<br />
* [[Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey|Sir Malcolm Hailey]], [[Governor of the Punjab]]<br />
* [[Edwin Pascoe|Sir Edwin Pascoe]], Director of the [[Geological Survey of India]]<br />
* [[Kenneth Wigram|Major General Kenneth Wigram]]<br />
* [[William Twiss (Indian Army officer)|Brigadier W. L. O. Twiss]]<br />
* [[Gerard Mackworth Young|Mr. G. Mackworth Young]], Army Secretary<br />
* Mr. J. G. Acheson, Deputy Foreign Secretary<br />
* Major E. O. Wheeler of the Survey of India;<br />
* Captain J. G. Bruce, [[6th Gurkha Rifles]]<br />
* [[Edward Oswald Shebbeare]], of the [[Indian Forest Service]]<br />
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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.<ref name=lib>{{cite journal|doi=10.1353/lac.2003.0062|title=The Library of the Himalayan Club, a Unique Cultural Institution in Simla, 1928-1946|journal=Libraries & the Cultural Record|volume=38|issue=4|pages=289–321|year=2003|last1=Flora|first1=Nirmolini V}}</ref><br />
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==Presidents emeritus==<br />
*Jagdish Nanavati (2000-2012)<br />
*Dr. M.S. Gill (2013-present)<br />
*Harish Kapadia (2013-present)<ref>{{cite web |title=Emeritus |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/about-us/roll-of-honours/emeritus/ |website=himalayanclub.org |publisher=The Himalayan Club |access-date=25 July 2022}}</ref><br />
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== References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==External links ==<br />
*{{oweb|https://www.himalayanclub.org/}}<br />
*[https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheHimalayanClub/ Facebook Group]<br />
[[Category:Climbing and mountaineering organizations]]<br />
[[Category:Alpine clubs]]<br />
[[Category:Himalayan studies]]</div>24.239.131.71