Wrestling in India

Wrestling in India
United States's Kevin Ahearn and Azerbaijan's Eldar Atakishiyev at the 2007 Military World Games held in Hyderabad, India
Governing body	Wrestling Federation of India
National competitions
Pro Wrestling League Hind Kesari
International competitions
Olympic Medalists : Bronze: K. D. Jadhav in 1952 Bronze: Sushil Kumar in 2008 Silver: Sushil Kumar in 2012 Bronze: Yogeshwar Dutt in 2012 Bronze: Sakshi Malik in 2016 Bronze: Bajrang Punia in 2020 Silver: Ravi Kumar Dahiya in 2020 Bronze: Aman Sehrawat in 2024 Asian Games Champions  : Gold: Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia, Rajinder Singh, Maruti Mane, Kartar Singh (2 titles), Chandgi Ram, Satpal Singh, Malwa Singh, Ganpat Andhalkar, Vinesh Phogat

Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in India. ^[1] Several regional styles and variations in folk wrestling exists in the country. Indian wrestlers have won numerous medals at international competitions in freestyle wrestling.

History

Wrestling has been popular in India since ancient times, it was mainly an exercise to stay physically fit. The wrestlers, traditionally, use to wear a loincloth, langota. In Ancient India, wrestling was most famously known as Malla-yuddha . One of the protagonists of the Mahabharata , Bhima, was considered to be a great wrestler of his time, with some of his contemporaries including Karna, Jarasandha, Kichaka, and Balarama. The other prominent Indian epic, the Ramayana , also mentions wrestling in India and Hanuman is described as one of the greatest wrestlers of his time. During the reign of Mughal Empire, who were of Turko-Mongol descent, the influence of Iranian and Mongolian wrestling were incorporated to the local Malla-yuddha to form the modern Pehlwani, wrestling style popular throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in modern times. ^[2]

Wrestling in India is also known as Dangal, and it is the basic form of a wrestling tournament. It is also called kushti in Punjab and Haryana. The wrestling in Punjab and Haryana will take place in a circular court with soft ground which in Punjabi is called an "akharha". Two wrestlers will continue to wrestle until the back of one touches the ground. The winner will parade the court with the loser following him.[10] The wrestlers are called Pehlwans who train with modern weights and traditional weights such as a Gada (mace). The aim of kushti is to wrestle the opponent and to block the other player.

Regional variants

Sculpture of Greek wrestlers at Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad.

• Gatta gusthi, a submission wrestling style common in Kerala. ^[3]
• Inbuan, a traditional folk wrestling style native to Mizoram.
• Kabaddi, a form of South Asian folk wrestling played in teams.
• Kene, a traditional folk wrestling style native to Nagaland.
• Malakhra, a wrestling common in Sindh (Pakistan) and Gujarat.
• Malla-yuddha, oldest traditional wrestling extant in India.
• Malyutham, a folk wrestling style native to Tamil Nadu.
• Mukna, a form of folk wrestling native to Manipur.
• Pehlwani or Kushti, a Mughal style of wrestling common in North India.
• Vajra-mushti, a folk wrestling form which employs a fist-load weapon.

Tournament records

Competition	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Olympic Games	0	2	6	8
World Championship	1	5	16	22
Asian Games	11	15	39	65
Asian Championship	25	82	137	244
Commonwealth Games	49	39	26	114
Total	86	143	224	453

• updated till 31st July, 2024

Notable performances at Summer Olympics

Year	Event	Player	Result
1920
	Men's freestyle featherweight	Dinkkarao Shinde	4th
1948
	Men's freestyle flyweight	K. D. Jadhav	6th
1952
	Men's freestyle bantamweight	K. D. Jadhav
	Men's freestyle featherweight	Keshav Mangave	4th
1960
	Men's freestyle middleweight	Madho Singh	5th
	Men's freestyle light heavyweight	Sajan Singh	7th
1964
	Men's freestyle bantamweight	Bishambar Singh	6th
1968
	Men's freestyle 52 kg	Sudesh Kumar	6th
	Men's freestyle 70 kg	Udey Chand	6th
1972
	Men's freestyle 52 kg	Sudesh Kumar	4th
	Men's freestyle 57 kg	Prem Nath	4th
1980
	Men's freestyle 68 kg	Jagmander Singh	4th
	Men's freestyle 48 kg	Mahabir Singh	5th
	Men's freestyle 74 kg	Rajinder Singh	6th
1984
	Men's freestyle 74 kg	Rajinder Singh	4th
	Men's freestyle 57 kg	Rohtas Singh Dahiya	5th
	Men's freestyle 52 kg	Mahabir Singh	6th
	Men's freestyle 48 kg	Sunil Dutt	7th
	Men's freestyle 90 kg	Kartar Singh	7th
1992
	Men's freestyle 100 kg	Subhash Verma	6th
	Men's Greco-Roman 48 kg	Pappu Yadav	8th
2008
	Men's freestyle 66 kg	Sushil Kumar
2012
	Men's freestyle 66 kg	Sushil Kumar
	Men's freestyle 60 kg	Yogeshwar Dutt
2016
	Women's freestyle 58 kg	Sakshi Malik
2020
	Men's freestyle 57 kg	Ravi Kumar Dahiya
	Men's freestyle 65 kg	Bajrang Punia
	Men's freestyle 86 kg	Deepak Punia	5th
2024
	Men's freestyle 57 kg	Aman Sehrawat
	Women's freestyle 68 kg	Nisha Dahiya	7th
	Women's freestyle 76 kg	Reetika Hooda	7th

See also

• List of National Sports Award recipients in wrestling
• Akhara
• Musti-yuddha, India's oldest form of boxing.

References

1. "Wrestling in India" . Retrieved 27 March 2021.
2. Burtt, Jon (2010). Mallakhamb: An investigation into the Indian physical practice of rope and pole Mallakhamb (Thesis). p. 32. In the 16th century, another northern wrestling influence was brought to the Indian sub-continent by the Persian Mughals. This practice combined with the indigenous form to create the pehlwani wrestling style popular throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh today.
3. S., Priyadershini (27 July 2016). "On the Mat". The Hindu . Retrieved 4 August 2021.

Further reading

• Rudraneil Sengupta, 2016, Enter the Dangal: Travels through India's Wrestling Landscape.
• Joseph S. Alter, 1992, The Wrestler's Body: Identity and Ideology in North India.
• Saurabh Duggal, 2017, Akhada: The Authorized Biography of Mahavir Singh Phogat.

External links

• Wrestling Federation of India