Pundit Nain Singh Rawat: Explorer Extraordinary

Crossroads Asia Lecture by Prof. Shekhar Pathak, Tuesday, 21rd of April 2015

The lecture will start at 12pm c.t. at Freie Universität Berlin, Geo-Campus Lankwitz, Malteserstr. 74-100, Haus G, Room 202

Shekhar Pathak is the founder of the People's Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR)
Nainital, Uttarakhand Himalaya, India

Pundit Nain Singh Rawat (1830-1895) was one of the greatest explorers of Asia in the 19th century, who did exploration work in Himalaya, Karakoram, Tibet, Nepal, Central Asia and Tartary region. He started his career with Schlagintweit Brothers and entered in to the Survey of India as an ordinary surveyor and emerged soon as one of the pioneers of Indian Surveys. His four expeditions contributed much to the explorations of the unknown parts of Asia. He was described as 'Pundit of Pundits' by Royal Geographical Society of London, which awarded him twice.

His unique journey from a shepherd to porter, to surveyor, teacher/ trainer, writer of the vernacular diaries and a scientific primer and finally to an 'explorer extraordinary' is the central theme of this lecture.