Gama was born to the renowned wrestler Muhammad Aziz. At the age of 5 his father died and Gama was taken care of by his maternal uncle Eida. Maharaja Bhawani Singh, the ruler of Datia (a princely state of the British Raj in Madhya Pradesh) patronized the young wrestler and his brother Imam Bukhsh. Gama was first noticed at the age of ten when he entered a strongman competition, which included many gruelling exercises, including Hindu squats, held in
Career Highlights:
First Encounters with Raheem Sultani Wala
Fame came to Gama at the age of 19 when he challenged, then Wrestling Champion of India, Raheem Baksh Sultani Wala. Being 6Ə" tall and having an impressive record, Raheem was thought to easily defeat 5ƍ" Gama, but the bout continued for hours and eventually ended in a draw. The contest with Raheem was the turning point in Gama's career. After that, he was looked upon as the next contender for the title Champion of India. In the first bout, Gama remained defensive, but in a second match Gama was more offensive. Gama was bleeding from his nose and ears but he managed to destroy the lungs and heart of Raheem Baksh.
Winning the John Bull Belt
By 1910, Gama had defeated all the prominent Indian wrestlers who faced him. At this time, he focused his attention to the rest of the world. Accompanied by his younger brother Imam Bukhsh, Gama sailed to
The next to accept Gama's challenge was Stanislaus Zbyszko and the date of bout was set to be 10 September 1910. The match was £250 in prize money and the John Bull Belt. Within a minute, Zbyszko was taken down and remained in that position for the remaining 2 hours and 35 minutes of the match. There were a few brief moments when Zbyszko would get up, but he just ended back down in his previous position. The two men were set to face each other again on September 17th, 1910. On that date, Zbyszko failed to show up and Gama was announced the winner by default. He was awarded the prize and the John Bull Belt. Receiving this belt entitled Gama to be called Rustam-e-Zamana or World Champion.
Final Encounter with Raheem Sultani Wala
Shortly after his return from
Rematch with Zbyszko
After beating Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala, Gama beat Pandit Biddu, one of the best wrestlers in
Gama did not have any opponent until in 1927 it was announced that Gama and Zbyszko would face each other again. The day finally came in 1928 when both wrestlers met again in
Remaining Career
After soundly beating Zbyszko in 42 seconds, Gama beat Jesse Petersen in February 1929. This bout lasted only one and a half minutes.By the mid 1940's Gama continued to put out challenges but added a stipulation. The stipulation was that anyone who wanted to wrestle the great Gama had to wrestle and defeat Imam first. No one did. This was the last bout that Gama fought during his career and although he did not retire until 1955, he did not find any opponent and retired undefeated as the World Champion. Although he had a number of draws early in his career, he retired undefeated in an estimated 5,000 matches. After retiring, he helped to train his nephew Bhollu who held the Pakistani Championship for almost 20 years. After the partition of British India, Gama opted to move to
The Great Gama, the Lion of Punjab, is still remembered as one of the greatest champions ever to grace the mat.
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