“The Jettys community of wrestlers knew the science of wrestling much before the world knew what the art of fighting meant,” says C. Maheshwaran, author of the book Legacy of Jettys to be launched next week by Prince Yaduveer in Bengaluru.
It took Mr. Maheshwaran 10 years of research into this wrestling community to bring about the 188-page book in English, with a host of interesting photos that trace their art.
These originators of martial skills, who came from Gujarat, once depended on royal patronage after their migration, and were mainly associated with the Royal kingdom of Mysore, apart from Thanjavur, Krishnadevaraya, Tipu Sultan, Gaekwads of Baroda and the Rajput King, Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer.
Migration to the southLegacy of Jettys is a 188-page exhaustive addition to the world of books in English with a host of interesting photos that documents the community’s original settlers from Modhera in Gujarat. Nearly 400 families subsequently migrated to the south looking for royal patronage to the art in 1025 A.D., i.e., 991 years ago.
How the Jettys get totally dependent on royal patronage but get intrinsically close and loyal to the kings are points that the Jettys later emotionally contemplate on, both with cherished memories and regret, says the author. “The withdrawal of the privy purse (raja dhana) later to the erstwhile princely States brings in a shadow of economic gloom in the lives of Jettys as they hardly receive any money for their profession. It is in contrast to the bright and bracing days the wrestlers earlier enjoyed in the palace,” he says.
The community of Jettys made their way to the south after entering Andhra Pradesh first. Their language is a curious mix of many vernacular idioms, including Telugu and Kannada, called the Mallabhasha, secretly spoken during war and wrestling. “Nowhere in the world is there a community of wrestlers as the Jettys. They are said to have followed the knowledge recorded in the 5000-year-old text ‘Mallapuraan’ that is believed to have been dictated by Lord Krishna and Balarama in Sanskrit and Devanagiri,” writes Mr. Maheswaran. “It covers scientific wrestling skills, human anatomy, pressure points in the body, nutritional science and body language,” he says.
Several hundreds of Jetty families that the author was in touch with offer distressing narratives of helplessness they go through, because of the absence of alternative professions after the royals were unable to help them, says Maheshwaran, a martial arts practitioner himself and belonging to the section of Jettys who believed in education and entering other professions.
