Gama

From Freepedia

Gama was the first inhabitant of united India to acclaim an international title in any sport. This was achieved by him on October 15,1910 when he was awarded the "World Champion" belt. He was born as "Ghulam Muhammad" in 1888 to a renowned wrestler "Muhammad Aziz". At the age of 5 his father died and Gama game under the patronship of his maternal uncle "Eida". Bhawani Singh, the ruler of Ditya (a princely state of British India) patronized the young wrestler and his brother Imam Bukhsh. Fame came to Gama at the age of 19 when he challenged the then "Champion of India" Raheem Bukhsh Sultani Wala. Being 6'9" tall and an impressive record, Raheem was thought to overwhelm 5'7" Gama in no time but the bout continued for hours and ended in a draw. Drawing a contest with Raheem Bukhsh Sultani Wala was the turning point in Gama's life as after that he was looke upon as the contendar of the title "Champion of India". It is reported that during that bout Gama remained defensive. Both wrestlers again faced each other but this time Gama was on the offense neverthless the result was the same.

By 1910, Gama had defeated all the prominent Indian wrestlers who faced him but Raheem Bukhshs Sultani Wala. At this time he foucused his attention to the outer world. Accompanied by his younger brother Imam Bukhsh among other wrestlers, Gama sailed to England to compete with the Western Wrestlers. Being only 5'7" and 260 lbs, he was not taken seriously by the heavy weight wrestlers of the West initially. Maybe it was for this that in its May 14th Issue, the "Health and Strength" magazine announced a challenge by the Indian team stating that they will face "Any" wrestler of the world and will pay anyone £5 whom any of the team members will fail to throw in five minutes. There was an additional announcement on the part of Gama that he will throw any three wrestlers in thirty minutes without any restriction to their weight. These announcements however didn't cause the rippeling effect as it was thought by the wrestlers and their promoter Mr. R.B. Benjamin as for quite a long time no one came forward to accept the challenge. In order to break the ice, Gama presented another challenge to the heavyweight wrestlers of the time, this time being specific. He challenged Zbysco that he will throw him three times in an hour for £100 or £200 aside. He kept on by challenging Goth that he will beat him or will pay him £250.