Sherpa people in the context of "Lhasa Tibetan"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Sherpa people in the context of "Lhasa Tibetan"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Sherpa people

The Sherpa people (Standard Tibetan: ཤར་པ།, romanized: shar pa) are a Tibetan ethnic group native to the mountainous regions of Nepal, India, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.Most Sherpas live in eastern Nepal: the provinces of Bagmati (mainly in the districts of Dolakha, Sindhupalchok and Rasuwa) and Koshi (mainly in the districts of Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasabha and Taplejung). Some live north of Kathmandu, in the Bigu and Helambu regions. They can also be found in Tingri County, Bhutan, and the Indian states of Sikkim and northern West Bengal (the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts). Sherpas establish monasteries known as gompas in these regions, where they follow their local traditions. Tengboche was the first celibate monastery in Solu-Khumbu.

The Sherpa language is part of the southern branch of the Tibeto-Burman languages, mixed with eastern (Khams Tibetan) and central Tibetan dialects. This language is separate from Lhasa Tibetan, and is unintelligible to Lhasa speakers.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Sherpa people in the context of Tibet

Tibet (/tɪˈbɛt/ ), Xizang or Hsi-tsang is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau. It is the homeland of the Tibetans. Other ethnic groups also reside on the plateau, including Mongols, the Monpa, the Tamang, the Qiang, the Sherpa, the Lhoba, and since the 20th century, the Han and the Hui. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 4,380 m (14,000 ft). Lying within the Himalayas, the highest point in Tibet is Mount Everest – the highest peak on Earth, standing 8,848 m (29,000 ft) above sea level.

The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century. At its height in the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire extended far beyond the Tibetan Plateau, from the Tarim Basin and Pamirs in the west, to Yunnan and Bengal in the southeast. It then collapsed and divided into a variety of territories in the 9th century after the battle of U-Yor (Chinese:伍约之战 Tibetan:དབུ་གྱོར་བཁྲུག་པ་བྱས). Lhasa was central part of Wu Ru (Chinese:伍如 Tibetan: དབུ་རུ), the battle of U-Yor lasted for 12 years in Wu Ru and also marked the end of Wu Ru.

↑ Return to Menu

Sherpa people in the context of Yeti

The Yeti (/ˈjɛti/) is an ape-like creature purported to inhabit the Himalayan mountain range in Asia. In Western popular culture, the creature is commonly referred to as the Abominable Snowman. Many dubious articles have been offered in an attempt to prove the existence of the Yeti, including anecdotal visual sightings, disputed video recordings, photographs, and plaster casts of large footprints. Some of these are speculated or known to be hoaxes.

Folklorists trace the origin of the Yeti to a combination of factors, including Sherpa folklore and misidentified fauna such as bear or yak. The Yeti is commonly compared to Bigfoot of North America, as the two subjects often have similar physical descriptions.

↑ Return to Menu

Sherpa people in the context of Human-powered transport

Human-powered transport is the transport of person(s) and/or goods (freight) using human muscle power. Unlike animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, running and swimming, as well as small vehicles such as litters, rickshaws, wheelchairs and wheelbarrows. Modern technology has allowed mechanical advantage devices and machines to enhance human-power.

Although motorization has increased speed and load capacity, many forms of human-powered transport remain popular for reasons of cost, convenience, leisure, physical exercise and environmentalism. Human-powered transport is sometimes the only type available, especially in underdeveloped or inaccessible regions.

↑ Return to Menu

Sherpa people in the context of Nuptse

Nuptse or Nubtse is a mountain in the Khumbu region of the Mahalangur Himal, a part of the Nepalese Himalayas. It lies 2 km (1.2 mi) to the southwest of Mount Everest. The main peak, Nuptse I with an elevation of 7,861 m (25,791 ft), was first climbed on May 16, 1961 by Dennis Davis and Sherpa Tashi. After a hiatus of almost 20 years, Nuptse became an objective of mountaineers again, with important routes being put up on its west, south, and north faces.

↑ Return to Menu

Sherpa people in the context of Ama Dablam

Ama Dablam is a mountain in the Eastern Himalayas range of Koshi Province, Nepal. The main peak is 6,812 metres (22,349 ft), the lower western peak is 6,170 metres (20,243 ft). The name Ama Dablam literally means 'mother's charm box' in the Sherpa language; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother (ama) protecting her child, and the hanging glacier thought of as the dablam, the traditional double-pendant containing pictures of the gods, worn by Sherpa women. For several days, Ama Dablam dominates the eastern sky for anyone trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp. Because of its soaring ridges and steep faces, Ama Dablam is sometimes referred as the "Matterhorn of the Himalayas". The mountain is featured on the one rupee Nepalese banknote.

Although Alfred Gregory led the first attempt on Ama Dablam in 1958 it was on 13 March 1961 that the first successful ascent was made, when Mike Gill (NZ), Barry Bishop (US), Mike Ward (UK) and Wally Romanes (NZ) ascended the Southwest Ridge. They were well-acclimatised to altitude, having wintered over at 5,800 metres (19,029 ft) near the base of the peak as part of the 1960–61 Silver Hut expedition, led by Sir Edmund Hillary.

↑ Return to Menu

Sherpa people in the context of Expedition climbing

Expedition climbing (or expedition-style or pejoratively siege climbing) is a type of mountaineering that uses a series of well-stocked camps on the mountain leading to the summit (e.g. Base Camp, Camp 1, Camp 2, etc.), that are supplied by teams of mountain porters. In addition, expedition climbing can also employ multiple 'climbing teams' to work on the climbing route—not all of whom are expected to make the summit—and allows the use of supports such as fixed ropes, aluminum ladders, supplementary oxygen, and sherpa climbers. By its nature, expedition climbing often requires weeks to complete a given climbing route, and months of planning given the greater scale of people and equipment that need to be coordinated for the climb.

'Expedition style' climbing is in direct contrast to 'alpine style' climbing, which involves a single small fast-moving summit climbing team that carries all their supplies and equipment (e.g. no mountain porters or sherpas) and makes little use of support (e.g. no supplementary oxygen or fixed ropes). As a result of having less equipment and supplies, alpine-style teams need to complete their climbing route in days and it is thus considered a riskier form of mountaineering (e.g. if they get trapped in a storm, they have no supplies to wait for the storm to pass). Some argue that this risk is balanced by the fact that alpine-style teams spend less time on the mountain, thus reducing their exposure to other serious risks such as from avalanches and seracs.

↑ Return to Menu

Sherpa people in the context of Khumbu

Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of Koshi Pradesh. Khumbu is one of three subregions of the main kirat Rai (Khambu) and Sherpa settlement of the Himalaya, the other two being Solu and Pharak. It includes the town of Namche Bazaar as well as the villages of Thame, Khumjung, Pangboche, Pheriche and Kunde. The famous Buddhist monastery at Tengboche is also located in Khumbu.

Khumbu's elevation ranges from 3,300 metres (11,000 feet) to the 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft) summit of Mount Everest, the highest place on Earth. In total, Khumbu region has the population of 3,456 people with 912 houses (As per population census of 2011). Also, there are 347 registered hotel and tea houses in 13 villages of Khumbu. The Khumbu region includes both Sagarmatha National Park (above Monju) and the Sagarmatha National Park Buffer Zone, between Lukla and Monju.

↑ Return to Menu

Sherpa people in the context of Bagmati Province

Bagmati Province (Nepali: बागमती प्रदेश, Bāgmatī pradēśa) is one of the seven provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. Bagmati is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest province by area. It is bordered by Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, Gandaki Province to the west, Koshi Province to the east, Madhesh Province and the Indian state of Bihar to the south. With Hetauda as its provincial headquarters, the province is also the home to the country's capital Kathmandu, is mostly hilly and mountainous, and hosts mountain peaks including Gaurishankar, Langtang, Jugal, and Ganesh.

Being the second most populous province of Nepal, it possesses rich cultural diversity with resident communities and castes including Thami (Thangmi) (Shneiderman, 2009, 2015; Turin, 1998), Newar, Tamang,Sherpa, Tharu, Chepang, Jirel, Brahmin, Chhetri, and more. It hosted the highest number of voters in the 2017 election for the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly.

↑ Return to Menu