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Battle of Dograi

1965 indo pak war battle

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ98811926
Source-derived summary

The Battle of Dograi was a military engagement from 20 to 22 September 1965, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It took place in the area of Dograi village on the outskirts of Lahore in Pakistani Punjab.

Background

Dograi is a strategically important village as it is located just 8 kilometres (5 mi) from international border, and 16 kilometres (10 mi) from Lahore, the capital of Pakistani Punjab and the 2nd largest city in Pakistan. The village being so close to Lahore gave it a high level of importance as it would be a vital bargaining chip for any territorial negotiations and exchanges after the closure of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Preliminaries

Prior to the main battle, the Indian Army's 3 Jat battalion had already tried to capture Dograi on 6 September 1965 but had to abandon its positions as they could not be reinforced due to strafing of supply lines by aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force.

Between 6 and 20 September, numerous attempts were made to capture Dograi, but were unsuccessful due to the position having been reinforced by the Pakistan Army.

On 20 September, the 3 Jat unit, consisting of over 500 men and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Desmond Hayde was tasked with capturing the position.

The defending Pakistani force was composed of troops from 16 Punjab, 3 Pashtun, consisting of over 900 men. 16 Punjab was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J.F. Golwalla.

Reconnaissance patrols reported that Dograi was well fortified with pillboxes and buildings in the built-up region to cover all axes.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Battle of Dograi” as 1965 indo pak war battle. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1965—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Battle, Dograi and indo can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as 1965 indo pak war battle. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q98811926. Authority coordinates are 31.529, 77.403. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1965.

Critical limits

Institutional narratives can privilege the records that survived while minimizing voices that were never formally collected. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Battle of Dograi”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Battle of Dograi primary sources, Battle of Dograi archive and Battle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Battle of Dograi”?
  2. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
  3. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Battle of Dograi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.