Alam Channa

Haji Mohammad Alam Channa
Born	1953 Sehwan, Sindh province, Pakistan
Died	July 2, 1998 New York City
Nationality	Pakistani
Other names	Channa
Known for	World Tallest Man, 7ft 7inch or 7ft 8inch

Haji Mohammad Alam Channa (1953 in Sehwan, Sindh province, Pakistan – 2 July 1998 in New York City) was one of the tallest living people. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the tallest living man in the world (between 1982 and 1998), was Pakistan’s Mohammad Alam Channa. Before his death in 1998, Channa was reported to be 7ft 8 inches tall.

Born in 1953 in the city of Sehwan (in Pakistan’s Sindh province), Channa is said to have stood 6ft 4 inches by the time he was 18. He continued to grow taller till he was 26.

Channa came from an impoverished Sindhi family. He did not receive any noteworthy education. The male members of his family had traditionally served as minor retainers at the famous shrine of Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in Shewan. Here is where Channa too spent most of his years, tasked to keep certain areas of the shrine clean. According to Channa’s paternal side of the family, Channa was making just Rs. 15 a week at the shrine! So when the circus offered him Rs. 160 a month, he decided to immediately accept the offer.

The circus turned Channa into a local star. He would travel with it across the length and breadth of Sindh. All he had to do was to make an entry just when two short men dressed as jokers were going through their routine. He would walk in and proceed to lift up the jokers (who would pretend to run away from the giant). Channa would grab them and then put them on his shoulders.

In 1981 a man who had watched Channa at the circus wrote a letter to the editors of the famous Guinness Book of World Records. With the letter he also sent some photos of Channa he had taken at the circus.

Months later some officials from Guinness landed in Sindh’s capital city, Karachi, and from there they reached Sehwan where they met and measured Channa. They measured him at being 7ft 7 inches. On their return to the UK, the men entered Channa’s name in the Guinness book as the tallest living human on earth.

He got married in 1989 and had a son in 1990."

In 1998 his kidneys began to fail. The government decided to send him to the US and finance his treatment. But in a US hospital, he slipped into a coma and died, aged 45. He is buried in Sehwan.

Early life

Channa belonged to an indigent Sindhi family. He could not get education. All his family male members had traditionally served as minor retainers at the famous shrine of Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in Sehwan. In this town Channa spent his early years and assigned to keep areas of the shrine clean.

Distinction

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the tallest living man in the world (between 1982 and 1998), was Pakistan’s Mohammad Alam Channa. Before his death in 1998, Channa was reported to be 7 ft 7 inches tall.

For centuries the urs of Lal Shahbaz has been a vibrant, festive and boisterous occasion.

Career & fame recognition

Alam Channa first worked as a khadim lal at the shrine of the famous Shabazz Qalandar. However in 1978, a circus stationed outside the shrine saw Channa and offered him a job. At the shrine, Channa was earning Rs. 15 while the circus offered Rs. 160. Alam Channa immediately quit the shrine and started working at the circus. It was during his work at the circus, in 1981, that he was noticed by a person. This person wrote to the Guinness Book of World Records and told them about the tall man and to prove it also snet some photos. After many months, officials from Guinness Book of World Records came to Karachi and from there to Sehwan. The men measured Channa at a height of 7 ft 7 inch. Upon their return to the UK these men entered Channa's name into Guinness Book of World Records. News regarding this was first told in the local newspaper but was soon picked up by the state owned Pakistan Television Network. Alam Channa became famous overnight and started getting chased by news reporters. Distressed by his new found status as a star, Channa quit the circus and went back to being a servant at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine. During his latter stay at the shrine, Alam Channa was visited by several dignitaries from Pakistan including then President Zia-Ul-Haq, Zulfiqar Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. During his life, Channa also went on to visit several Middle Eastern, European and Asian countries.

External links

• "Letter from Alam Channa to Sadruddin Noorani" in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)