All About The Incredible Life of India’s First Woman Wrestler

Hamida Banu, extensively thought-about India’s first skilled lady wrestler, was born within the early 1900s close to Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. She rose to stardom within the Nineteen Forties and 50s, at a time when girls’s participation in athletics was strongly discouraged by prevalent social norms. Her spectacular feats and larger-than-life persona introduced her world fame. She was a trailblazer of her time, and her fearlessness is remembered all through India and the world over. Right this moment, Google Doodle can also be paying tribute to the exceptional lifetime of Ms Banu, whose legacy embodies resilience, dedication and breaking boundaries. 

Who was Hamida Banu? 

Hamida Banu was born right into a household of wrestlers within the early 1900s close to Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. She entered into wrestling at a time when girls’s participation in athletics was strongly discouraged by prevalent social norms. Nevertheless, Ms Banu was “passionate and he or she competed with males anyway, issuing an open problem to all male wrestlers and wagering her hand in marriage to the primary to defeat her,” as per Google. 

Ms Banu’s profession even prolonged into the worldwide enviornment, the place she gained in opposition to a Russian lady wrestler Vera Chistilin in lower than two minutes. “Her title appeared in newspaper headlines for years, and he or she grew to become referred to as the “Amazon of Aligarh.” The bouts she gained, her food plan, and her coaching routine had been extensively coated,” Google wrote. 

“Hamida Banu was a trailblazer of her time, and her fearlessness is remembered all through India and the world over. Outdoors of her sporting accomplishments, she is going to at all times be celebrated for staying true to herself,” it added. 

What made Hamida Banu widespread? 

“Beat me in a bout and I will marry you”. This was the problem that Ms Banu made to male wrestlers in February 1954, as per BBC. Quickly after the announcement, she defeated two male wrestling champions – one from Punjab’s Patiala and the opposite from Kolkata in West Bengal. 

In Could, Ms Banu then reached Gujarat’s Vadodara for her third struggle of the 12 months. Nevertheless, the wrestler she was speculated to struggle withdrew from the match final minute, resulting in her subsequent challenger, Baba Pahalwan. The bout lasted simply 1 minute and 34 seconds when Ms Banu gained the match. He retired from skilled wrestling after that.

Following this, Ms Banu’s weight, peak, and food plan all made information. She grew to become referred to as the “Amazon of Aligarh”. Accounts from her surviving relations counsel that her power, mixed with the conservative attitudes of the time, made her depart her hometown of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh for Aligarh.

In a 1987 guide, creator Maheshwar Dayal wrote that Ms Banu’s fame attracted folks from far and vast as she fought a number of bouts in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Nevertheless, she additionally confronted challenges from individuals who had been infuriated by her public performances. As soon as, she was additionally booed and stoned by followers after she defeated a male opponent. 

Nevertheless, this by no means stopped Ms Banu from pursuing her ardour. In 1954, she triumphed over Vera Chistilin, dubbed Russia’s “feminine bear”. The identical 12 months, she introduced she would go to Europe to struggle wrestlers there.

Private life 

However after defeating Ms Chistilin in Mumbai, Ms Banu appeared to fade from the wrestling scene. In accordance with BBC, this was the purpose the place her life modified. Quoting Feroz Shaikh, her grandson, the report mentioned Ms Banu’s coach, Salam Pahalwan, didn’t like her going to Europe. He tried stopping her from doing so. 

In accordance with her neighbour Rahil Khan, Ms Banu was left with fractured legs after her coach beat her. “She was unable to face. It healed later, however she couldn’t stroll correctly for years with no lathi…” the report quoted Rahil Khan.

Sahara, the daughter of Salam Pahalwan, acknowledged that he had wed Ms Banu, whom she thought to be her stepmother. Nevertheless, Ms Banu’s grandson, who lived together with her till her dying in 1986, disagreed. “She certainly stayed with him, however by no means married him,” the report quoted Mr Shaikh as saying.

In accordance with BBC, Ms Bani made a residing from promoting milk and renting out some buildings. When she ran out of cash, she would promote selfmade snacks by the roadside.