Pehlwani (Kushti)
कुश्तीTraditional wrestling of the Indian subcontinent, done in akharas in a clay pit. Per anthropologist Joseph Alter, a synthesis of Persian wrestling brought by the Mughals and Hindu tradition.
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About Pehlwani (Kushti)
Pehlwani, more commonly kushti, is the traditional wrestling of the Indian subcontinent. According to anthropologist Joseph S. Alter (The Wrestler's Body, 1992), today's Indian wrestling is a synthesis of the Persian form brought to South Asia by the Mughals and a native Hindu tradition documented from at least the 11th century, and wrestlers now regard the Sanskrit name mallayuddha as archaic. It is practised in akharas, wrestling gyms run by a guru with a group of senior pupils, where wrestlers often live too.
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Wrestling takes place in a pit of clay, not on a mat. Alter states that turmeric is mixed into the clay for its healing effects, and in Gujarat buttermilk, oil and ochre, and the press also describes ghee and sour milk. Wrestlers dig the pit themselves with a short heavy hoe into furrows like ploughed farmland, and Alter ranks this among the key exercises. Kushti is competitive wrestling, and training wrestling is called jor. Training rests on repetition in huge numbers. The dand is a push-up with an arched spine, the bethak a deep squat on both legs with a hop onto the toes, and according to Alter a good wrestler can do about 1 500 dands in an hour. The gada is a heavy stone weighing 10 to 60 kg at the end of a one-metre bamboo pole, and the gar nal is a stone ring hung around the neck, used by few wrestlers. The diet is milk, ghee and almonds, and the traditional regime includes rising before dawn and the abstinence of brahmacharya. The most famous wrestler is Gama, who drew with Zbyszko in London in 1910 after almost three hours and, when Zbyszko did not appear for the rematch, won the John Bull belt. An inscription in the museum in Baroda says he remained undefeated. According to Alter, the national championship of the Indian style is Bharat Kesari, and clay wrestling survives today alongside the mat in competitions of the Wrestling Federation of India, which in December 2018 held the first national mud wrestling championship.
History
The main source on the history of Indian wrestling is the monograph by anthropologist Joseph S. Alter, The Wrestler's Body: Identity and Ideology in North India (University of California Press, 1992), based on on-site research in Varanasi in the nineteen-eighties. According to Alter, today's wrestling is a synthesis of the Persian form brought to South Asia by the Mughals and a native Hindu form documented from at least the 11th century. In his view the Persian and Hindu techniques are identical, and what differs is the culture of Muslim and Hindu wrestling. The Sanskrit term mallayuddha, meaning wrestling combat, is according to Alter rarely used, and wrestlers regard it as archaic. The Wrestling Federation of India places the beginnings of wrestling in India as far back as the fifth millennium BCE, but no source is given for this.
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Alter stresses the role of royal patronage: according to today's wrestlers, wrestling would have died out without it, and patronage turned a popular sport into a political discourse with a nationalist undertone. The most famous figure is Gama (born 22 May 1878 in Jabbowal near Amritsar, died 23 May 1960), whom the maharaja of Patiala, according to Alter, rewarded with a village and an annual stipend of 6 000 rupees, and who nevertheless died poor. According to The National, mat wrestling entered a Delhi akhara in 1976, and since then both are taught in akharas. The Wrestling Federation of India held the first national mud wrestling championship in Pune at the end of December 2018.
How it differs
Compared with Olympic freestyle, kushti differs mainly in surface and setting. Scroll.in wrote of the first national mud championship in 2018 that the only difference from the mat was the surface, and the Indian Express described the Bharat Kesari Dangal tournament in Ambala in 2017 as wrestling on a mat, where spectators had to get used to kushti with a mat in place of mud. Within Indian wrestling, Alter distinguishes a Muslim and a Hindu culture of wrestling, technically identical but formally different. Alongside competitive kushti stands the training wrestling jor.
Technique
According to Alter, kushti denotes competitive wrestling and jor wrestling for training. Wrestling takes place in a clay pit, and wrestlers wear a loincloth called langot. We found no written rules of clay wrestling. At the first national mud wrestling championship in Pune in December 2018, according to Scroll.in, points came from takedowns and throws, a bout was won by pinning the opponent's shoulders, and wrestlers could not grab the opponent's langot. Per the report, the only difference from mat wrestling was the surface. According to its constitution, the Wrestling Federation of India follows United World Wrestling rules and lists pehlwani among its affiliated styles.
Training
Alter describes akhara training in detail. The pit is dug with a short heavy hoe called pharsa into furrows like ploughed farmland, and digging is among the most important exercises. Turmeric is mixed into the clay for its healing effects, in Gujarat buttermilk, oil and red ochre, and on the festival of Nag Panchami oil, turmeric, sometimes perfumes and neem leaves. The National describes digging with a twenty-kilogram hoe, mixing turmeric with mustard oil and levelling with a heavy plank called fatta, and in 2021 descriptions it also mentions ghee and sour milk.
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The basics are the dand, a push-up with an arched spine, and the bethak, a deep squat on both legs with a hop onto the toes. According to Alter, a good wrestler can do about 1 500 dands in an hour and many do 2 000 a day, and bethaks in sets of 60 to 100. The gada is a heavy round stone weighing 10 to 60 kg at the end of a bamboo pole a metre long, and the gar nal is a stone ring hung around the neck, used by few wrestlers. Wrestlers are meant to rise at three in the morning, in practice between half past four and five. Patrons pay for their milk, ghee and almonds, which wrestlers regard as a source of strength. According to Alter, the basis of a wrestler's life is brahmacharya, abstinence with the principle of protecting the semen, symbolised by the langot. An akhara has from five to seventy members aged 8 to 65, and the guru demands complete devotion from the pupil. In a Delhi akhara described by The National in 2008, wrestlers live there, may not drink or smoke, eat vegetarian, and the heavier ones drink up to six litres of milk a day.
Ranks and progression
Indian wrestling has no ranks or belts, and standing is given by titles. According to Alter, Bharat Kesari is the annual national championship in the Indian style, sponsored in the nineteen-eighties by the Indian Wrestling Federation. The Hind Kesari title was won in 1960 by Ganpatrao Andalkar, and Rustam-e-Hind was a title held by a champion. According to olympics.com, Gama won it after returning from England in 1910 by defeating Raheem Bakhsh. We did not find who awards the titles today, and the Indian Style Wrestling Association of India claims that the traditional titles are protected by trademarks.
Today
Wrestling in India is governed by the Wrestling Federation of India, a member by its constitution of the Indian Olympic Association and United World Wrestling. It brings together state and territorial associations and promotes UWW rules, and its website gives neither its founding year nor its number of members. Its objects of activity include traditional wrestling, and lists pehlwani among affiliated styles. It organised the first national mud wrestling championship in Pune at the end of December 2018, with prizes of 75 000 rupees for gold, 50 000 for silver and 25 000 for bronze. The traditional titles are disputed: the Indian Style Wrestling Association of India sought a court ban on the Maharashtra Kesari competition in Pune, citing trademarks. No Indian wrestling element is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list.
Did you know
Gama was not admitted to the John Bull competition in London in 1910 due to his height and issued an open challenge. The final against Zbyszko on 10 September 1910 was drawn after almost three hours, Zbyszko did not show up for the rematch, and Gama got the John Bull belt. Alter places the rematch in Patiala in 1928 and writes that Gama won in two and a half seconds before more than 40 000 spectators, while olympics.com gives 1927 and under a minute. An inscription in the museum in Baroda says Gama stayed undefeated for life, while olympics.com cites more than 5 000 bouts. Alter relates that Gama advised a young man to do eleven dands and bethaks a day, eat a handful of chickpeas and think of God.
Frequently asked questions
What is an akhara?
A wrestling gym run by a guru and a group of senior pupils, where people wrestle in a pit of clay, train and often live.
What is added to the clay in a kushti pit?
According to Alter, turmeric, and in Gujarat buttermilk, oil and ochre. The press also mentions ghee and sour milk.
Is kushti on the UNESCO list?
No. Among India's intangible heritage elements at UNESCO there is no wrestling element.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.