Labour and Vertical Empire: High-Altitude Porters in Himalayan Mountaineering c. 1890s - 1930s

This dissertation re-examines the history of Himalayan mountaineering from the 1890s to the 1930s, shifting the focus from elite climbers to the indigenous porters whose labour was foundational to these mountaineering expeditions. It analyses how British and German mountaineering expeditions used high-altitude endeavours to assert national prestige, scientific authority, and racial hierarchies. Drawing on official records and expeditionary archives of the German Alpine Club (Munich), the Alpine Club (London) and the Royal Geographical Society (London), the dissertation reveals how groups such as the Sherpas and Bhutias were categorised under colonial racial doctrines and managed within structured, asymmetrical labour systems. The dissertation moves beyond traditional narratives of heroic ascent and evocations of a partnership between climbers and porters, and highlights the agency and resistance of these workers, who navigated complex relationships of dependency and professionalisation. Ultimately, the dissertation illustrates how the vertical frontiers of empire became sites where modern identities of masculinity, race, and nationalism were contested and performed.