Pehlwani in the context of "Freestyle wrestling"

Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves different grappling-type techniques, such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins, and other grappling holds. Many different wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sports, and military systems.

Wrestling comes in different forms, the most popular being professional wrestling, which is a form of athletic theatre. Other legitimate competitive forms include Greco-Roman, freestyle, judo, sambo, folkstyle, catch, shoot, luta livre, submission, sumo, pehlwani, shuai jiao, and more. Wrestling first appeared in the ancient Olympic Games as an event during the 18th Olympiad in 708 BC. There are a wide range of styles with varying rules, with both traditional historic and modern styles. The term "wrestling" in Modern English originated from the late Old English term wræstlunge.

Malla-yuddha (Sanskrit: मल्लयुद्ध, IAST: mallayuddha) is the traditional form of combat-wrestling originating in the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to Southeast Asian wrestling styles such as naban and is one of the two ancestors of kushti. Indian wrestling is described in the 13th century Malla Purana.

Malla-yuddha incorporates wrestling, joint-breaking, punching, biting, choking and pressure point striking. Matches were traditionally codified into four types which progressed from purely sportive contests of strength to actual full-contact fights known as yuddha. Due to the extreme violence, this final form is generally no longer practised. The second form, wherein the wrestlers attempt to lift each other off the ground for three seconds, still exists in south India. Additionally, malla-yuddha is divided into four categories (see below). Each yuddhan is named after Hindu gods and legendary fighters:

Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt (22 May 1878 – 23 May 1960), commonly known by the title Rustam-e-Hind and by the ring name The Great Gama, was a Pakistani pehlwani wrestler and strongman from Punjab. His career spanned British India and later, Pakistan. In the early 20th century, he was an undefeated wrestling champion of British India.

He was born into a Butt Punjabi-Kashmiri family in Jabbowal village (Amritsar District) in the Punjab Province of British India in 1878, Gama was awarded a version of the World Heavyweight Championship on 15 October 1910. Undefeated in a career spanning more than 52 years, he is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. After the partition of India, Gama migrated to Pakistan, where he died in the city of Lahore on 23 May 1960.