Vajra-Musti
Also transliterated:	Vajra Musti Vajra Mushti Vajramusti Vajramushti Vajra-Mushti

Vajra-musti (Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

:, "thunder fist" or "diamond fist") refers to a knuckleduster-like weapon and also the name of ancient Indian martial art practiced by a class of wrestlers known as . The weapon is sometimes called bhukhandi or Indra-mukti which means Indra

Indra

' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

's fist. Wrestlers would compete with a vajramusti on one hand, from where the system gets its name. Later examples of the weapon occasionally had blades protruding from the sides, but these were not used in vajra-musti matches. Fights were typically held during Dusara festivals.

The combatants fought either nude or wearing the same type of loincloth as modern Indian wrestlers. In the basic stance, the left arm is held out to the front with the hand open. The right arm, holding the vajramusti, is held to the side next to the waist. The left foot is placed forward while the right foot is turned to the side.

During the Mughal era

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

, wrestlers would often use bagh nakh instead of the vajramusti. Although fundamentally similar to vajra-musti, this style of fighting was known as nakh ka kusti meaning "claw wrestling" in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

. M. Rousselete, who visited Baroda in 1864, described naki-ka-kausti (nakh ka kusti) as one of the raja's favourite forms of entertainment.

The weapons, fitted into a kind of handle, were fastened by thongs to the closed right hand. The men, drunk with bhang or Indian hemp, rushed upon each other and tore like tiger

Tiger

The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

s at face and body; forehead-skins would hang like shreds; necks and ribs were laid open, and not infrequently one or both would bleed to death. The ruler's excitement on these occasions often grew to such a pitch that he could scarcely restrain himself from imitating the movements of the duellists.

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