HISTORY OF HIMALAYAS

Himalayas is known for its historical, religious, and geographical significance. Historically it has a lot of relevance it served as a guard from various invasions, a border and a meeting ground for different races, culture and religion. It formed a divide between India and Tibet. But that barrier didn't stopped individuals from pursuing adventurous journeys to explore the unknown side of the mountains. People traveled for religious and trade purposes. The trans-Himalayan region was a key center for trade and commerce. With the famous Silk Route this region first gained importance during the early Han dynasty i.e. 206 BC to 8 AD. The route connected Central Asia with South Asia, and created a bridge between culturally and religiously diverse countries such as India, China, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bhutan. Himalayas was also a witness to the Indus Valley Civilization, the oldest Indian Civilization. In 1856 in the foothills of the Himalayas the twin cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa was discovered. So Himalayas has a rich historical background to unfold. To explore the Himalayas innumerable attempts have been made as the Mount Everest has been opened for commercial mountaineering in the early 1920s. But Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary have made the first successful attempt to climb the Everest in May 1953. Since then many successful attempt have been made to climb the Mount Everest.

Now coming to the origin of Himalayas it can be said that millions of years ago, a collision between Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate resulted in the formation of the world's highest mountain Himalayas. There were several steps in the formation of the Himalayas. The first step was the collision of the Gondwana plate and Angara plate. The seabed raised into longitudinal ridges and valleys. In the second step the collision was very effective and powerful. The Tethys bed rose to a great extent to cause the final retreat of the sea. During this the Great Himalayas and the Tibetan Himalayas were formed. In the third step the Lower Himalayas were formed. During the fourth step the Himalayas ranges elevated and the Sub Himalayas were raised. The last step was the final phase, which determines the present structure of the Himalayas.

The panoramic view of the mountain ranges attracts traveler across the world. The early Aryans use to consider Himalayas as the adobe of Gods and Goddess. In 1852 the highest mountain in the world was named after Sir George Everest as Mount Everest. Some facts about the Himalayas expeditions are: As Nepal opened its frontiers in 1949 to the outside world people explored ten of the fourteen 8000m peaks. Some of the major among them are
Annapurna (8091m) was the first peak to be climbed in 1950, and then in 1953 it was Mount Everest (8848m) and Nanga Parbat (8125m). From that time onwards many expeditions have been made and by 1964 all the Himalayan peaks had been climbed.