about pahlwani

Wrestling is arguably the oldest full body contact sport in the world, with different versions of it being seen across all cultures in the globe.

In India, traditional wrestling is better known as “Kushti” or “Pehlwani”. It came into existence in the Mauryan Empire or even earlier but regained prominence during the Mughal Empire when they combined “Malla Yudha” or combat wrestling with certain traditions of the Persian “varzesh-e-pehlwani”. There is a lot of congruency or parallels between the European wrestling techniques seen in Georgian or East European Wrestling and Indian Kushti.

The free form of wrestling in mud or a specially prepared mud pit in India and South Asia is popularly known as Kushti.