Qualla: Battle of Badgam https://qualla.com/battle-of-badgam en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:32 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Badgam https://qualla.com/battle-of-badgam Battle of Badgam: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-badgam/ Major Somnath Sharma's left hand was in a plaster cast when he led his company into Badgam on November 3, 1947. He had been wounded previously, and his arm had not fully healed - but the situation in Kashmir left no room for convalescence. Indian troops had only just begun flying into Srinagar's airfield, and tribal lashkars numbering in the thousands were converging on the city along three axes. One force of roughly 700 raiders was approaching through Gulmarg, heading straight for Badgam - and the airfield beyond it. If they seized the runway, the entire Indian airlift would collapse. Sharma's D Company of the 4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment, was all that stood in the way.

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]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/w/j/1/battle-of-badgam-wp/twj1-battle-of-badgam-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Badgam: A Race for the Runway https://qualla.com/battle-of-badgam/ The strategic logic was brutally simple. In late October 1947, Pakistan-backed tribal lashkars had invaded the princely state of Kashmir after the Maharaja's accession to India, triggering the first Indo-Pakistani war. India's response depended entirely on the Srinagar airfield -...

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]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/w/j/1/battle-of-badgam-wp/twj1-battle-of-badgam-a-race-for-the-runway.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Badgam: One Company Against a Thousand https://qualla.com/battle-of-badgam/ Sharma's company engaged the raiders at Badgam and immediately found itself outnumbered and under heavy fire. The Indian Air Force flew support sorties overhead, strafing the lashkar positions - the air strikes inflicted the majority of casualties on the tribal forces throughout ...

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]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/w/j/1/battle-of-badgam-wp/twj1-battle-of-badgam-one-company-against-a-thousand.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Badgam: The Night That Changed the War https://qualla.com/battle-of-badgam/ By the end of the fighting, between 15 and 22 Indian soldiers were dead, including Sharma, and 26 were wounded. But the lashkar had suffered far worse: over 200 tribal fighters killed, two of their officers dead, two junior commissioned officers lost, and more than 320 wounded. C...

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]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/w/j/1/battle-of-badgam-wp/twj1-battle-of-badgam-the-night-that-changed-the-war.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Badgam: India's First Param Vir Chakra https://qualla.com/battle-of-badgam/ Major Somnath Sharma was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously - making him the first-ever recipient of India's highest wartime gallantry decoration. The award recognized not just his courage under fire but the strategic consequence of his actions: his company's resistance at...

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]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/w/j/1/battle-of-badgam-wp/twj1-battle-of-badgam-indias-first-param-vir-chakra.mp3 0:06 5 full