Gama Pahalwan’s Biography

Gama Pahalwan’s full name is Ghulam Mohammed Baksh Butt, but he was more commonly known as Rustom E-Hind. Gama Pahalwan was known as The Great Gama. He was a Pahalwani strongman and wrestler in the British Raj. At the beginning of the 20th Century, he was the undisputed champion in subcontinental wrestling.

Gama Pahalwan’s birthday is 22 May 1878. His birthplace was Jabbowal in Amritsar (British Raj) and he died on 23 May 1960. His final resting place is Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. Gama Pahalwan was 82 years old at the time of Gama’s death. Gama Pahalwan was a Muslim.

Gama Pahalwan’s zodiac sign was Gemini. His height was 1.73m, or 5’8. Gama Pahalwan weighed 110 kg. Gama Pahalwan had 46 Inch chest, 34 Inch waist, and 22 Inch biceps.

Google created a Google Doodle to honour Gama Pahalwan (also known as The Great Gama) on the 144th anniversary of his birth. Gama Pahalwan was India’s most famous wrestler at that time. He achieved international success and gained respect from the public before he died in 1960.

Gama Pahalwan was born in Punjab Province, British Raj, in Amritsar District in 1878. He received a part of the World Heavyweight Championship in October 1910. Since he was undefeated for more than 52 years, he is considered one of the greatest wrestlers ever.

Gama moved to Pakistan when British India was split into the Dominion of India (now Pakistan) in August 1947. Gama spent the rest of his life in Pakistan before he died in Lahore, on May 23, 1960.

Gama Pahalwan took part in combat and won more than 5,000 battles. Bruce Lee closely followed Gama’s training program. Lee soon incorporated Gama’s training routines into his own practice after reading about them and their effectiveness in developing his wrestling skills. Lee included exercises such as the cat stretch or the squat in his training.

Hasli, a 100-kg training disc made of a doughnut that Lee used to do pushups and squats with, is now kept at Patiala’s National Institute of Sports Museum. As a reminder of the legendary wrestler’s strength, a stone weighing 1200kg is displayed at Sayajibaug’s Baroda Museum. Gama lifted this stone while in Baroda, on December 23, 1902.

Gama Pahalwan inspires many wrestlers around the globe, no matter how long it has been. Gama Pahalwan is also known as The Undefeated and is unbeatable in any Indian subcontinent heart, despite her more than a 50-year journey.

Gama Pahalwan’s Family

Gama Pahalwan was born to Muhammad Aziz Baksh, Gama’s father. Gama Pahalwan was the child of a Kashmiri Muslim wrestling-related family. Gama Pahalwan’s brother was Imam Baksh Pahalwan. His lineage was known for producing great wrestlers. Gama, who was six years old, lost his father, a well-known wrestler. Gama was raised by Nun Pahalwan, a former wrestler and his maternal grandfather. Gama was taken in by his uncle, Ida, a wrestler who taught him the basics of the sport after Nun Pahalwan died.

Gama Pahalwan was eleven years old when he took part in a Jodhpur strongman competition. The competition involved many taxing activities such as squats. The competition saw more than 400 wrestlers compete. Gama, who placed in the top 15, won the Maharaja in Jodhpur due to his youth. Gama was then taken to Datia by the Maharaja. His Ustad in Akhada gave him instruction in wrestling. He is completely illiterate.

Gama Pahalwan’s Wife:

Wazir Begum

Gama Pahalwan married twice. Wazir Begum was one of Gama’s wives. It is unknown what the name of the second wife was. Gama Pahalwan had nine children, including five sons (and four daughters) and nine. Kalsoon Nawaz (Nawaz Sharif) is his granddaughter. Saira Bano is the spouse of Jhara Pahalwan, who is the sister of Kalsoom Naawaz and the grandchild of Gama Pahalwan.

Victories from Overseas

Gama defeated several prominent wrestlers during his London tour, including Doc Benjamin Roller from the U.S.A, Maurice Deriaz, Johann Lemm, and Jesse Peterson, both from Sweden. Gama faced Raheem Bakhsh Singhi Wala once more after his return from England.

This was the wrestler Gama considered his most difficult opponent and won the title Rustam-e Hind. Gama was presented with a silver mace by the Prince of Wales in 1922. This is a highly decorated honorary staff made of metal. Gama fought Zbyszko again in 1928. He won the bout within one minute. Gama also dominated the Indian edition of the World Wrestling Championship, winning the title of “Tiger” from the opponent.

An Undefeated wrestler

Gama was open to all challenges until the early 1950s. However, he had a peculiar condition: anyone who wanted to fight with him had to first defeat his older brother Imam, who was 6’3″, tall and had a strong grappling technique that wrestlers couldn’t escape. Gama was unable to be touched by anyone because of this condition. Gama said farewell in 1952 to his wrestling career.

Gama was a strong man despite his muscular physique. However, Gama had a soft heart and cared for everyone’s creed and caste. When he assisted the Hindu community in Pakistan to relocate to India during the partition, Gama’s faith in humanity was well-known.

He stood firm against the mob of outraged people and helped the community reach safety. He eventually escorted them all to the border and delivered food that could last for a week before saying goodbye to them.

He relied heavily on the government pension during his final days. He was also given Rs. by GD Birla, an industrialist. 2000, and provided him with a monthly pension of Rs. 300. 23 May 1960 was just one day after his 82nd birthday.

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The Undefeated Pehalwan lost the fight for life in a long battle with heart disease. Gama was inducted into 2015 the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame for his unbeaten wrestling career which is still a source of inspiration to many wrestling fans today.

Achievements & Awards

• Honored with the Indian World Heavyweight Championship at 15.10.10
• After Zbyszko’s inability to turn up, he had a fierce fight with Stanislaus Zbyszko, World Champion. Gama defeated Zbyszko at the Indian World Wrestling Championship in 1927. He was referred to as “Tiger” by the latter.
• Many respected wrestlers around the globe were defeated, including “Doc” Benjamin Roller, Johann Lemm and Maurice Deriaz, and finally his most difficult opponent Raheem Bash Sultani Wala.
• A silver moe was presented to the Prince Of Wales during his visit to India in 1922
• Gama was inducted into both the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in the Class of 2007 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Class of 2015.

Summary: Who was Gama Phalwan?

1. Gama spends his entire life with his uncle, a wrestler.
2. Gama Pahalwan discovered his passion for wrestling and exercise as a youngster.
3. Gama Pahalwan used practice to exceed 10 hours per day. He used to wrestle with 40 other wrestlers per day in the arena in an effort to improve his strength.
4. Gama Pahalwan, a 10-year-old boy, participated in a contest and won the top spot. He was one of 400 competitors.
5. Gama Pahalwan did 5000 squats per day and 3000 pushups each day during training.
6. Gama Pahalwan fought against India’s best wrestlers from 1890 to 1910 and won all her matches.
7. Gama Pahalwan beat wrestlers in many national and international forums, and she raised Indian pride.
8. Gama has remained undefeated despite playing matches for over a decade and having played five thousand matches during his career.
9. Gama Pahalwan used to eat six desi chickens, 10 liters of milk, a half-a liter of butter, almond syrup and 100 rotis daily.
10. Gama Pahalwan was still in Pakistan at the time of the partition. He saved many Hindu families from violence by then. He was not taken care of by the government of Pakistan and struggled to pay the bills in his final days. He was 82 years old when he died in 1960. His name is still a household name in Pakistan and India today.