Hamida Banu, an Indian wrestler who is regarded as the country’s first professional female wrestler, is honored in this Doodle. Today’s Doodle is an illustration by guest artist Divya Negi, who is located in Bangalore, and shows Hamida surrounded by local flora and fauna.
On this day in 1954, the wrestling match that brought Banu international fame and recognition was reported. She defeated famous wrestler Baba Pahalwan in just 1 minute and 34 seconds, after which Banu retired from professional wrestling.
Bhanu was born in Uttar in the early 20th century near Aligarh, Pradesh to a family of wrestlers. She grew up wrestling, and throughout her career from the 1940s to the 1950s she won over 300 competitions. Although conventional wisdom at the time strongly discouraged women’s participation in athletics, Bhanu competed with men with passion, openly challenging all male wrestlers, and she was the first wrestler to win. I risked my marriage. Her career expanded to the international stage, where she defeated Russian wrestler Vera Chistilin in less than two minutes.
Her name appeared in newspaper headlines over the years and she became known as the ‘Amazon of Aligarh’. Her winning matches, diet, and training program were widely publicized.
Hamida Banu was a pioneer in her time and her fearlessness is remembered across India and the world. Apart from her success in her sport, she has always been praised for staying true to herself.
