Kikkar Singh

Who was Kikkar Singh?

Pehelvan Kikkar Singh Sandhu

Kikkar Singh Sandhu 'Pehelvan' was a wrestler of legendary fame. He was born on 13 January 1857 to Javala Singh Sandhu and Sahib Kaur, a farming couple of moderate means living in the village ot Chanteke, in Lahore district. Javtla Singh, himself a wrestler, wished his only son to train as one. Young Kikkar Singh began his apprenticeship in his mother's native village, Nurpur, under Gulam, the potter. As he returned to his own village, he started practising with an elderly wrestler, Vasava Singh, who taught him many fine points of the sport. He had already made a name as a wrestler by the time he put himself under the tutelage of Buta Pahilvan, Rustam-i-Hind, of Lahore. Soon Kikkar Singh came to be counted as the leading Indian wrestler and one among the best in the world. He enjoyed the patronage of the rulers of the princely states of Jodhpur, Indore, Dasuya, Tonk and Jammu and Kashmir.

Kikkar Singh had a prodigious frame. He was uncommonly tall, over seven feet, as the tradition goes, and many legends became current of his Herculean strength. For example, his real name was Prem Singh, he came to be known as Kikkar Singh for he had once uprooted a kikkar tree with bare hands. It is also likely that he earned his botanical name because of his extraordinary height and dark complexion .