The Pehalwan Who Never Lost a Fight

In British India, the Gama pehalwan became a symbol of the masculine identity of India when he stepped onto the world’s stage of wrestling. A Kashmiri Muslim living in Amritsar in undivided India, the boy upheld the family tradition of being a wrestler and, quite frankly, aced it.

During his tour to India, the Prince of Wales presented Gama Pehlwan with a silver mace to honour the famous wrestler. Image Source: Madras Courier

The medieval art of wrestling was getting marginalised as the British powers rose in the country. The kings were surrendering to the Raj and thus, their patronages were being retracted from the wrestlers of the time. The Gama Pehalwan single-handedly brought marginal art into the world’s stage and won accolades for the nation.

In doing so, he inadvertently became a symbol of Indian masculine identity on the world stage. The Britishers stereotyped Indian elite men as effeminate and weak-kneed but Gama’s physicality overrode that stereotype.

The Gama pehalwan or the great Gama are the stage names of Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt. Butt was given these monikers because, allegedly, he never lost a match in his entire career! He was born in 1878 in Amritsar, Punjab into a family of pehalwans. Butt was brought up by his uncle who taught him the art of pehalwani, a traditional form of wrestling that originated in India.

Butt started his wrestling career when he was just ten years old, and it wasn’t long before he impressed everyone with his strength and stamina. His fame started gathering after he participated in a competition in Jodhpur where he had to do squats, push-ups, and other exercises. He outperformed more than 400 wrestlers and was applauded by the Maharaja of Jodhpur. Soon after, he trained under the patronage of Maharaja of Datia, who gave him the best facilities and coaches.

With his strength and hard work, Gama became famous all over India for his wrestling skills. He challenged and defeated many champions, including Raheem Baksh Sultaniwala, who was the Rustam-e-Hind (Champion of India) at that time. Gama was known for his rigorous training regimen, which included doing thousands of squats and push-ups every day with a heavy stone ring around his neck. In his book titled Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body, John Little claims that Bruce Lee was much impressed by Butt’s training methods and incorporated them into his regime.

During his training, to test his strength and courage, Gama often wrestled with wild animals like lions and tigers.

After defeating every wrestler in India, Gama’s insatiable hunger for more exposed him to the world’s stage. He went to London in 1910 to participate in the world championship, however, he was denied entry because, at 5 ft and 8 inches, he stood short of the required criteria. Back in India Butt had taken down wrestlers over 7 ft and therefore believing in himself threw open a challenge to beat any three wrestlers in under 30 mins. Well, the rest is history. There he fought the best wrestlers from Europe and America and became Rustam-e-Zamana (Champion of the World) and earned the respect and admiration of everyone.

During the partition, Gama relocated to Lahore, Pakistan. Allegedly, Gama’s neighbourhood has a sizable Hindu population. During communal riots, Gama made sure to safeguard them by patrolling the parameters of the area and fighting off anyone who intruded. Later, he realised that it was not sustainable for long and helped the Hindus to safely cross the border.

Butt continued to wrestle and win until he retired in 1952 at the age of 74. He never lost a single match in his 52-year-long career. During the later years of his life, he was struggling to meet ends as he received very little pension from the government. After battling illness for years, the Great Gama died at the age of 82 in poverty.

Gama Pehlwan was not only a great wrestler, but also a great human being. He was humble, generous, and patriotic. He donated money to various causes and supported the freedom movement in India. Gama left a rich legacy that would inspire many generations of wrestlers and sportsmen with his dedication and discipline. He was a legend who made India proud. Google celebrates Gama’s birthday with a Google doodle, created by Vrinda Zaveri.