Mitti dangals to international medals—How Azerbaijan’s Giorgi Meshvildishvili honed his skill in Indian akharas

Alongside an Olympic bronze and a European gold, Azerbaijan’s Giorgi Meshvildishvili has also won tractors, Bullet motorcycles and buffaloes in Indian dangals.

When he won gold at the European wrestling championships last week, Giorgi Meshvildishvilli cemented his claim as one of the world’s top heavyweight wrestlers. Last year, representing Azerbaijan, the 33 year old won bronze at the Paris Olympics in the men’s 125 kg category. But long before he was winning some of the most important medals in international wrestling , Giorgi Meshvildishvilli was competing for prizes with a bit more rural flair.

“Tractor, Bullet (motorcycle), bull (buffalo)” he tells  Sportstar over WhatsApp.

While he might be one of the biggest names in international wrestling now, Giorgi isn’t a stranger in Indian kushti circles. Starting a little over a decade ago, he’s come to India on multiple occasions, not as a tourist but to compete in India’s  kushti dangals or traditional wrestling tournaments. These aren’t international style competitions where wrestlers compete in singlets on a synthetic mat inside stadiums.

In bouts that are widely available on YouTube and shared on social media, Giorgi, billed as Giorgi of Georgia, competed against some of India’s biggest names in  kushti – Jassa Patti, Sikander Sheikh and Pritpal Singh. He fought wearing the Indian-style jockstrap, or  langot, on  mitti, or mud, in front of screaming crowds egged on by  dhol beaters in villages in Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Maharashtra.

It’s unlikely many of those spectators had an inkling of who he would turn out to be. “When he first came to India he wasn’t such a famous wrestler as he is now,” says Vijay Sharma also known as Golu Pehelwan who runs Vishkarma Mahavir Akhara in Mullanpur, just outside Chandigarh.

The  akhara that was started by Golu Pehelwan  back in 2012 was one of the first to bring in foreign coaches. Legendary Georgian coach Vladimir Mestervishvili, who had coached the Soviet Union international team before working as chief coach of the Indian team in the early 2000s, was one of them.

“When he was here, he also got a few of the Georgian wrestlers to come to India and Giorgi was one of them. At that time he wasn’t famous. Georgia has so many good wrestlers. Back in 2014, Geno Petriashvili (who would win an Olympic bronze in 2016, silver in Tokyo and gold in 2024 in Paris) was the main wrestler in 125kg in Georgia. Most of the younger guys had no chance to compete when he was around,” says Golu Pehelwan.

Golu Pehelwan says that Giorgi (who switched allegiances to Azerbaijan in 2023) first came to India to train in a different environment but decided to try his hand in dangals. “At that time he was trying to prepare for the Olympics but in India, the most important competition for heavyweight wrestlers are  dangals. When he saw them he also wanted to try them out,” he says.

Although it might seem unusual for an international wrestler to compete in a traditional style of wrestling, Golu  pehlwan, who himself takes wrestlers from his academy to train in different countries, says it was easy to adapt. “All countries which have a history of wrestling will have some traditional forms of wrestling in their villages. It is there in Iran, Russia, Georgia and Mongolia also. I’ve myself seen these competition. So, it isn’t that strange when some international wrestler training in India wanted to try this out,” he says.

According to Golu Pehelwan, it may not be that hard for a wrestler who trains on the mat to compete on mud. However, it is hard to do things the other way around.

Giorgi’s first stint in dangals didn’t go as well as might be expected for someone who would later go on to become an Olympic medallist and European champion. In a video on YouTube, he is pinned inside a minute at the Dilwarpur  dangal in Punjab by the turban wearing Jassa  Patti, who despite representing India only once is considered one of the greats of  kushti. Competing in Maharashtra, Giorgi is pinned by Sikander Sheikh after a little over eight minutes (unlike international wrestling there are no weight limits or time breaks in  kushti).

While he might be among the best international wrestlers now, Giorgi only has good things to say about the wrestlers he competed against in India. “India has very good wrestlers,” he says.

Although he struggled in his first time as a  kushti wrestler, Giorgi has returned multiple times to India, getting better each time. On his last visit to India, he beat Jassa Patti at the Mehri Kathla Dangal held in April 2022 in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh.

Golu Pehelwan says he had little doubt that Giorgi would eventually be able to beat India’s best kushti wrestlers. “Giorgi is an international level wrestler. When he came for the first time, he was young but he has much better technique and much more power than our Indian wrestlers,” he says.

It’s just as well he isn’t. An Indian of Georgi’s calibre could do very well as a kushti wrestler. Dangal committees put up huge prize money to get the best wrestlers competing at their competition – the biggest names can get several lakh just for competing. There are also rewards in kind with winners of top matches being rewarded with tractors, motorcycles, cars and also milk-giving buffaloes.

Giorgi doesn’t say what he’s made but says “I have driven on tractor, motor (cycle) and buffalo. I like Indian dangal. Money is very good also,” he writes.

But Giorgi didn’t come to India for the money. “These international wrestlers actually get only a very small amount of money compared to the Indian wrestlers. For them, it isn’t important. And you can’t make them wrestle every day or every week like the Indians. They only wrestle when they feel like it,” says Golu Pehelwan .

For Georgi, kushti wrestling – competing in prize fights, in a loincloth on dirt in front of giant crowds – appeals to something much more elemental. “I like Indian  dangal very much. Very strong matches. It feels like Gladiator,” Giorgi says in a voice note to  Sportstar.

Giorgi took a lot more from India than just competitions in dangals. “I love  chapatti,” he adds in the voice note. According to Golu Pehelwan, he also took the time to learn meditation. “He was someone who was a little worried at that time (2014) because there were many strong wrestlers in Georgia and he was still not sure whether he would get a chance to compete at the international level. Among the things he learned in India was meditation which I think helped him out.”

After his international wrestling career has taken off, Georgi hasn’t returned to India to compete in  dangals. However, he still hasn’t ruled out returning to the mud pit at some point in the future. “I still am in touch with Giorgi. He has a lot of love for India. He tells me it’s 50-50 that he comes to India again,” says Golu Pehelwan .