One of India’s greatest ever wrestler and arguably the greatest wrestler of all-time, The Great Gama, aka, Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt would have been 83 today. Born on this day (May 22) in 1878, Gama coursed a wrestling career of over 50 years and finished undefeated. His conquest wasn’t limited to India only. The Great Gama toured England, the United States and soared India’s pride higher every time he stepped into the wrestling ring. He was honoured with the Rustam-e-Zamana or the World Champion after he pinned Europe’s best wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko within a minute in the ring. Andre The Giant Birthday Special: From Being Highest-Paid Wrestler to Getting Drafted By French Army, Here Are Five Lesser Known Facts About First WWE Hall of Famer.

Legend has it that in his prime, The Great Gama could do at least 3000 pushups and a minimum of 5000 baithaks (squats) in an hour. This was part of his many exercising activities and was as gigantic as his meal which consisted of six chicken karhai, two gallons of milk, fruit juices and many more. Such was his strength that The Great Gama could lift a 1200 kg stone and walk normally by carrying it on his shoulder. He once did that to entertain Maharaj Sayajrao, the Maharaja of Baroda. Later when the stone was to be shifted to a museum in Baroda, even 25 people weren’t enough to carry it. On his birth anniversary, take a look at some interesting and fun facts about The Great Gama.

  • The Great Gama was born as Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt to a Kashmiri family of wrestlers in Amritsar, Punjab on May 22, 1878

  • The Great Gama was trained by the Maharaja of Datia after his father wrestler Muhammad Aziz Baksh passed away

  • The Great Gama remains the Only wrestler to go through an entire 50-year wrestling career without a defeat

  • The Great Gama once lifted a stone weighing 1200 kg and carried it as a show of strength to entertain Maharaj Sayajrao of Baroda

  • Gama was honoured as the Rustam-e-Zamana or World Champion after he pinned Europe's premier wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko within a Minute

  • Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's wife Kulsoom Nawaz was the great-granddaughter of The Great Gama

  • One of Gama's exercising tools called Hasli, a doughnut-shaped disc weighing over 100 kgs, is housed at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala, Punjab

  • Martial-Artist and actor Bruce Lee was inspired by The Great Gama and incorporated several of the wrestler exercise routines into his own to build strength

The Great Gama also won the Rustam-e-Hind (champions of India) after beating Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala, who the original champion. Gama retired from wrestling after a 50-year career without a defeat in 1955. Post the partition, he had shifted to Lahore in Pakistan where he resided. He suffered from a heart problem and asthma-related issues in his old age. The Great Gama sadly passed away on May 23, 1960, at the age of 82.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2020 08:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).