夏尔巴的意思是“东方人”。许多人类学家认为,夏尔巴人的先民居住在西藏东部一个叫哈姆的地方,靠放养牦牛为生,每年都到尼泊尔过冬。长期的固定迁徙也使他们垄断了尼泊尔首都加德满都与中国西藏之间的货物贩运。到公元16世纪,他们的活动范围才逐渐固定在尼泊尔境内。19世纪30年代,土豆在高山地区引种成功,使得夏尔巴人摆脱了游牧生活,人口也有了一定增长。 Sherpa means “Oriental ”. Many anthropologists believe that Sherpa ancestors lived in a place called Ham in the east of Tibet. They depend on stocking yaks and go to Nepal every winter. Long-term, permanent migrations have also led them to monopolize the trafficking of goods between Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, and China’s Tibet. By the 16th century AD, their sphere of activity gradually became fixed in Nepal. The successful introduction of potatoes in the high mountains in the 1930s led Sherpas out of nomadic life and a certain increase in population.