Imam Baksh Lone (1883-1977) was an Indian wrestler and a practitioner of the Indian wrestling style of

Pehlwani Pehlwani, (पहलवानी) also known as Kushti, is a form of wrestling contested in South Asia. It was developed in the Mughal Empire by combining Persian Koshti pahlevani with influences from native Indian Malla-yuddha. The words ''pe ...

. Imam was also the brother of Ghulam "The Great Gama" Muhammad Lone. Imam had arrived in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

by April, 1910, along with fellow wrestlers from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, including his brother Ghulam Muhammad, Ahmed Bux, and Gamu, to participate in European

catch wrestling Catch wrestling (originally catch-as-catch-can) is a classical hybrid grappling style and combat sport. It was developed by J. G. Chambers in Britain . It was popularised by wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed their own submission h ...

tournaments. AhmedBux

''Health and Strength'' magazine announced ''"The Invasion of the Indian Wrestlers"'' in its 14 May 1910, issue. The members of the Indian group were listed as Gama, Champion of India; Imam Baksh, Champion of Lahore; Ahmed Baksh, Champion of Amritsar; and Gamu, Champion of Jalandhar. Imam Baksh wrestled Swiss champion John Lemm during his career. The match between Baksh and Lemm ended with Baksh defeating the Swiss champion. In 1918, Gama Ghulam Muhammad, in a major tournament at

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

, passed his title of Indian Champion to Imam Bux, who had thrown Rahim Sultaniwala in 20 minutes. Imam Baksh was reportedly a superior ground wrestler compared to Ghulam Muhammad. Henry Werner had written that letter saying that Imam Bux would have been a better opponent for Stanislaus Zbyszko than for Gama. The editor of Health and Strength wrote that, "in my opinion, he amais not quite so clever a wrestler as his brother, Imam Bux, who enjoys the advantage of a longer reach." By the mid-1940s, Gama continued to put out challenges but added a stipulation. The stipulation was that anyone who wanted to wrestle the great Gama had to wrestle and defeat Imam first. No one did.Gandhi's Body: Sex, Diet, and the Politics of Nationalism by Joseph S. Alter
/ref>

References

External links

* ttp://www.ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_noble_0702.htm The Lion of the Punjab – Part III: London, 1910 by Graham Noblebr>The Lion of the Punjab – Part IV: Aftermath by Graham Noble

References

External links

Further reading