Pehlwani


Pehlwani, also known as Kushti, is a form of wrestling practiced in the Indian subcontinent. It was developed in the Mughal Empire by combining Persian Koshti pahlevani with influences from native Indian Malla-yuddha. The words pehlwani and kushti derive from the Persian terms pahlavani and koshti respectively, meaning "heroic wrestling". A practitioner of this sport is referred to as a pehlwan while teachers are known as ustad or guru.
One of the most famous practitioners of Pehlwani was The Great Gama, who is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Other examples include Kodi Rammurthy Naidu and Brahmdev Mishra. Pehlwani is one of the sports that influenced catch wrestling, which in turn partially inspired folkstyle wrestling, freestyle wrestling, and mixed martial arts.

Etymology

The word pahelwan is derived from the Persian word pahlavan, meaning "champion" or "warrior", originally used to refer to skilled warriors on the battlefield. In India, the term "Pahelwan" is a title to refer to a wrestler.

History

The ancient Indian form of wrestling is called malla-yuddha. Practiced at least since the 5th millennium BC, described in the 13th century treatise Malla Purana, it was the precursor of modern Kushti. There are references to wrestling in the two principal ancient Indian epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana. In the Persian literary tradition, the Shahnama contains references to wrestling, with the greatest wrestler in the Persian tradition being regarded as Rustam.
In the 16th century, northern India was conquered by the Central Asian Mughals, who were of Turko-Mongol descent. Through the influence of Iranian and Mongolian wrestling, given time, the local malla-yuddha was supplanted by Persian Koshti. Interestingly, the aspects of Malla-yuddha survived in the culture of the Akhad : Students are expected to be vegetarian, cook, take care of the facility, and be celibate.
Babur, the first Mughal emperor, was a wrestler himself and could reportedly run very fast for a long distance while holding a man under each arm. Mughal-era wrestlers sometimes even wore bagh naka on one hand, in a variation called naki ka kushti or "claw wrestling".
During the late 17th century, Ramadasa travelled the country encouraging Hindus to be physically active in homage to the great god Hanuman. Maratha rulers supported Kushti by offering large sums of prize money for tournament champions. It was said that every Maratha boy at the time could wrestle and even women took up the sport. During the colonial period, local princes sustained the popularity of kushti by hosting matches and competitions. Wrestling was the favourite spectator sport of the Rajputs, and were said to look forward to tournaments "with great anxiety". Every Rajput prince or chief had a number of wrestling champions to compete for his entertainment. The greatest wrestling centres were said to be Uttar Pradesh and Panjab region.
File:CO 1069-485-14.jpg|thumb|left|Trained Sikhs in the Perak Armed Police demonstrating Pehlawani wrestling, circa 1880–1890.
In 1909, a Bengali merchant named Abdul Jabbar Saudagar intended to unite the local youth and inspire them in the anti-British struggle against the colonists through a display of strength by holding a wrestling tournament. Known as Jabbar-er Boli Khela, this competition has continued through independence and the subsequent partition. It is still held in Bangladesh every Boishakhi Mela, accompanied by playing of the traditional sanai and dabor, and is one of Chittagong's oldest traditions.
In the more recent past, India had famous wrestlers of the class of the Great Gama and Gobar Goho. India reached its peak of glory in the IV Asian Games in 1962 when all the seven wrestlers were placed on the medal list and in between them they won 12 medals in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling. A repetition of this performance was witnessed again when all the 8 wrestlers sent to the Commonwealth Games held at Kingston, Jamaica had the distinction of getting medals for the country. During the 60s, India was ranked among the first eight or nine wrestling nations of the world and hosted the world wrestling championships in New Delhi in 1967.
Pehlwans who compete in wrestling nowadays are also known to cross train in the grappling aspects of judo and jujutsu. Legendary wrestlers from the bygone era like Karl Gotch have made tours to India to learn kushti and further hone their skills. Karl Gotch was even gifted a pair of . The conditioning exercises of pehlwani have been incorporated into many of the conditioning aspects of both catch wrestling and shoot wrestling, along with their derivative systems.

In Punjab

According to former wrestler Ranjit Singh, the pahelwani scene in Punjab during the 1930's had around five-hundred skilled wrestlers, with the majority being Sikhs or Muslims. In the late 1880's and early 1890's, Kala Partapa and Gora Partapa were two renowned heavy-weight wrestler in the Malwa region of Punjab. In 1898, the Great Gama became the Rustam-e-Hind, with notable victories in London against Ben Roller and Stanley Zbyzsko following in 1910. Another prominent wrestler was Goonga Pahelwan, who had defeated the Great Gama's nephew, Gama Kalloo, in 1918, causing a stir in the wrestling-scene. Balbir Singh Kanwal has authored multiple books on the history of Punjabi wrestling.

Training

Physical training in the art is referred to as virayam. Although wrestling in the Indian subcontinent saw changes in the Mughal era and the colonial period, the training regimen has remained the same for over 150 years. Many of the most-renowned historical pahelwans were born into wrestling families, where their relatives had practiced the art, with the son learning wrestling from his father from an early age. Fledgling wrestlers may start as early as 6, but most begin formal training in their teens. They are sent to an akhara or traditional wrestling school where they are put under the apprenticeship of the local guru. Their only training attire is the kowpeenam or loincloth. A pahelwan aims to achieve a state of self-realization, which imbued spiritual concepts into the art.
Vyayam or physical training is meant to build strength and develop muscle bulk and flexibility. Exercises that employ the wrestler's own bodyweight include the Surya Namaskara, shirshasana, and the danda, which are also found in hatha yoga, as well as the bethak. Sawari is the practice of using another person's body weight to add resistance to such exercises. An example of a training technique to strengthen the pahelwan's body was by turning the shaft of a Saqiyah for a prolonged period of time, with this kind of work normally being done by bullocks or camels.
File:Indian wrestler exercising. 1973.JPG|left|thumb|x216px|An old Indian pehlwan exercising with Indian clubs near Varanasi.
Exercise regimens may employ the following weight training devices:
  • The nal is a hollow stone cylinder with a handle inside.
  • The gar nal is a circular stone ring worn around the neck to add resistance to danda and bethak.
  • The gada (mace) is a club associated with Hanuman. An exercise gada is a heavy round stone attached to the end of a meter-long bamboo stick. Trophies take the form of gada made of silver and gold.
  • Indian clubs, a pair of.
Exercise regimens may also include which involve twisting rotations, rope climbing, log pulling and running. Massage is regarded an integral part of a wrestler's exercise regimen.
A typical training day will go as follows:
  • 3 AM: Wake up and perform press-ups and squats, as many as 4000. Run for 5 miles, followed by swimming and lifting stone and sandbags.
  • 8 AM: Teachers watch as the trainees wrestle each other in earth pits continuously for 3 hours. This is around 25 matches in a row. Matches start with the senior wrestlers. The youngest go last.
  • 11 AM: Wrestlers are given an oil massage before resting.
  • 4 PM: After another massage, trainees wrestle each other for another 2 hours.
  • 8 PM: The wrestler goes to sleep.
Some exercises are as follows:
  • Deep knee bends
  • Dipping push-ups – may derive from the Zoroastrian practice of genuflecting to the Sun

    Diet

According to the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, everything in the universe—including people, activities, and foods—can be sorted into three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas.
As a vigorous activity, wrestling has an inherently rajasic nature, which pehlwan counteract through the consumption of sattvic foods. Milk and ghee are regarded as the most sattvic of foods and, along with almonds, constitute the holy trinity of the pehlwani khurak, or diet. A common snack for pehlwan are chickpeas that have been sprouted overnight in water and seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon; the water in which the chickpeas were sprouted is also regarded as nutritious. Various articles in the Indian wrestling monthly Bharatiya Kushti have recommended the consumption of the following fruits: apples, wood-apples, bananas, figs, pomegranates, gooseberries, lemons, and watermelons. Orange juice and green vegetables are also recommended for their sattvic nature. Many pehlwan eat meat due to its high protein content. Famed pehlwan Dara Singh used to eat more than a pound of meat every day.
Ideally, wrestlers are supposed to avoid sour and excessively spiced foods such as chatni and achar as well as chaat. Mild seasoning with garlic, cumin, coriander, and turmeric is acceptable. The consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and paan is strongly discouraged.

Techniques

It has been said that most of the moves found in the wrestling forms of other countries are present in kushti, and some are unique to the Indian subcontinent. These are primarily locks, throws, pins, and submission holds. Unlike its ancient ancestor malla-yuddha, kushti does not permit strikes or kicks during a match. Among the most favoured manoeuvres are the dhobi paat and the kasauta. Other moves include the baharli, dhak, machli gota and the multani. Two fundamental components of pahelwani are stance, and moves/counter-moves. Daw-pech comprises many different kinds of feints and parries. Paintra is the footing of the wrestler on the ground, which is important for attacks or retreats. It is also important for the wrestler to be able to read his opponent to anticipate their next action.

Rules

Wrestling competitions known as dangal or kushti, are held in villages and as such are variable and flexible. The area is either a circular or square shape, measuring at least fourteen feet across. Rather than using modern mats, South Asian wrestlers train and compete on dirt floors. Before training, the floor is raked of any pebbles or stones. Buttermilk, oil, and red ochre are sprinkled to the ground, giving the dirt its red hue. Water is added every few days to keep it at the right consistency; soft enough to avoid injury but hard enough so as not to impede the wrestlers' movements. Every match is preceded by the wrestlers throwing a few handfuls of dirt from the floor on themselves and their opponent as a form of blessing. Despite the marked boundaries of the arena, competitors may go outside the ring during a match with no penalty. There are no rounds but the length of every bout is specified beforehand, usually about 25–30 minutes. If both competitors agree, the length of the match may be extended. Match extensions are typically around 10–15 minutes. Unlike mat-based wrestling, there is no point scoring system; a win is achieved by pinning the opponent's shoulders and hips to the ground simultaneously, although victory by knockout, stoppage or submission is also possible. In some variations of the rules,
pinning only the shoulders is sufficient. Bouts are overseen by a referee inside the ring and a panel of two judges watching from the outside.

Titles

Official titles awarded to kushti champions are as follows. Note that the title Rustam is actually the name of an Iranian hero from the Shahnameh epic.