Meet Hamida Banu, India’s first female wrestler whose name evoked fear among top male wrestlers, her opponents would…, The Great Gama…

New Delhi: Hamida Banu is considered India’s first female wrestler. She was a wrestler who, upon entering the arena, would make even the most renowned wrestlers raise their hands in surrender. Not only female wrestlers, but even male wrestlers would sweat in her presence. Just hearing her name would lead many prominent wrestlers to withdraw from matches.

Amazon of Aligarh

When Hamida Banu reached Baroda, Gujarat, to compete after defeating two male wrestlers, the wrestler who was supposed to fight her had already withdrawn his name and fled the arena. She was the first woman wrestler in India who could make even international-level wrestlers, like Baba Pehlwan, unable to last more than 2 minutes against her. After that, she retired from wrestling and announced that she would no longer participate in any wrestling matches.

Hamida Banu was often compared to a highly famous American wrestler known as Amazon. That’s why she was called ‘Amazon of Aligarh.’ Hamida Banu established her prowess not only in India but also abroad. She achieved victories in over 300 matches throughout her life, including those against both female and male wrestlers. In 2024, a Google Doodle was created in memory of Hamida Banu.

Hamida Banu, a rebel

Hamida Banu was born into a Muslim family with a long tradition of wrestling. According to reports, her father Nader was a famous wrestler. From a young age, Hamida had an interest in wrestling. Her father was the first to teach her martial arts at the age of 10. However, when Hamida, born in the 1900s, expressed her desire to enter wrestling, she faced a lot of criticism. At that time, wrestling was considered a men’s sport. Therefore, it was not acceptable to her family for a girl from a Muslim family to step onto the mat. But Hamida Banu rebelled and began wrestling against her family’s wishes for her career. She then moved to Aligarh and started training with a local wrestler, Salam Pehlwan. Initially, she participated in small competitions, but her aspiration had always been to achieve something great. Wrestlers used to leave the arena in fear.

Her daring challenge for marriage

Reports have indicated that initially, when Hamida entered the arena, male wrestlers would make fun of her. Many times, the male wrestlers would refuse to fight her, claiming that she was not worthy of competing against them. However, as time passed, Hamida proved herself. Then came a time when male wrestlers would leave the arena out of fear of Hamida Banu. She gained fame in just a few years and her reputation spread from Aligarh to Punjab. She started participating in wrestling matches not only in India but also abroad. Hamida Banu gained most attention when in 1954 she announced, “Whoever defeats me in wrestling, I will marry him”. This announcement caused quite a commotion.

Fight with The Great Gama

People were very excited about the match between Hamida Banu and Gama Pehlwan. For the first time, there was going to be a match at such a large level between a male and a female wrestler. Posters were printed for this match like a film, and it was promoted like a film as well. However, at that time, people were struggling to accept that a woman could defeat a male wrestler. The wrestling ring was prepared for the match between Gama Pehlwan and Hamida Banu. A large crowd gathered to watch the match. The stadium was packed. The match was about to begin, but just shortly before that, Gama Pehlwan withdrew his name from the competition. The next day, it was reported in the news that Gama Pehlwan withdrew his name out of fear from Hamida Banu.

After this, Baba Pehlwan fought her but he lost to her in just 1 minute and 34 seconds and announced his retirement from wrestling.

Hamida Banu’s unbelievable daily diet

Hamida had become so famous that her lifestyle also began to make headlines. According to reports, Hamida wrestled just like male wrestlers. She weighed 105 kilograms and had a very strong diet. She would drink more than 5 kilos of milk and over 2 kilograms of soup, along with more than 2 liters of fruit juice every day. Additionally, in terms of food, she consumed one chicken, one kilogram of mutton, half a kilogram of butter, 6 eggs, one kilogram of almonds, 2 large rotis, and 2 plates of biryani. This was her daily diet. She stood over 5 feet tall.

Vera Chistilin was a Russian female wrestler, known as ‘Russia’s female bear’ who was defeated by Hamida Banu in less than a minute. She impressed Vera Chistilin so much that she wanted to take her to Europe. After that, Hamida Banu decided to go to Europe.

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