Pehlwani

Also known as kushti

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 (heroic) and koshti (wrestling, lit. killing) respectively, meaning "heroic wrestling". A practitioner of this sport is referred to as a pehlwan (Persian for hero) while teachers are known as ustad (Persian for teacher or master) or guru.

Key facts

Martial art.aka: Kushti
Martial art.image: Davangere Wrestlers.jpg
Martial art.imagesize: 250px
Martial art.imagecaption: Pehlwani-style wrestling match in Davangere, Karnataka, India (2005).
Martial art.name: Pehlwani
Martial art.country: Indian subcontinent
Martial art.focus: Wrestling
Martial art.olympic: No
Martial art.parenthood: Koshti pahlevaniMalla-yuddha
Martial art.descendant arts: Catch wrestling

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Subclass of: wrestling
Country: India

Show 1 more fact

Commons category: Pehlwani

Sources (1)

wikidata.org

via Wikidata · CC0

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Encyclopedic overview

11 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
In Punjab
Training
Diet
Techniques
Rules
Titles
See also
References
External links

One of the most famous practitioners of Pehlwani was The Great Gama (Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt), 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 (MMA).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pehlwani” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.