Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt, commonly known as Rustam-e-Hind and by the ring name The Great Gama, was an Indian pehlwani wrestler and strongman in British India.
21 Facts About The Great Gama
2.
The Great Gama came from a wrestling family which was known to produce world-class wrestlers.
3.
The Great Gama had two wives: one in Punjab and the other in Baroda, Gujarat, India.
4.
The Great Gama was first noticed at the age of ten, in 1888, when he entered a strongman competition held in Jodhpur, which included many grueling exercises such as squats.
5.
The contest was attended by more than four hundred wrestlers and The Great Gama was among the last fifteen and was named the winner by the Maharaja of Jodhpur due to his young age.
6.
The Great Gama was taken into training by the Maharaja of Datia.
7.
In 1895, at the age of 17, The Great Gama challenged then-Indian Wrestling Champion, middle-aged Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala, another ethnic Kashmiri wrestler from Gujranwala, Punjab Province, Colonial India.
8.
In London, The Great Gama issued a challenge that he could throw any three wrestlers in thirty minutes of any weight class.
9.
The Great Gama challenged Stanislaus Zbyszko and Frank Gotch, either he would beat them or pay them the prize money and go home.
10.
The Great Gama was pitted against world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko and the date of bout was set as 10 September 1910.
11.
On that date, Zbyszko failed to show up and The Great Gama was announced the winner by default.
12.
The Great Gama was awarded the prize and the John Bull Belt.
13.
At one point, to face some type of competition, The Great Gama offered to fight twenty English wrestlers, one after another.
14.
The Great Gama announced that he would defeat all of them or pay out prize money, but still no one would take up his challenge.
15.
Shortly after his return from England, The Great Gama faced Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala in Allahabad.
16.
Later in his life when asked about who was his strongest opponent, The Great Gama replied, "Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala".
17.
The Great Gama did not have any opponents until 1927, when it was announced that The Great Gama and Zbyszko would face each other again.
18.
The Great Gama was unable to defeat Heeraman and eventually neither wrestler won.
19.
The Great Gama fought and defeated over two hundred opponents in his time.
20.
When his youngest son Jalaluddin died in 1945 at the age of just thirteen, The Great Gama was heartbroken and lost the power of speech for some days.
21.
The Great Gama died in Lahore, Pakistan on 23 May 1960 after a period of illness.