Badra is a census town in the Shahdol district in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. The district headquarters are located in the town of Shahdol. Two of the notable towns in this district are Amlai and Burhar. The district is a fraction of Rewa Division. According to the local residents, the name "Shahdol" is derived from the name of the person Shahdolwa Ahir of Sohagpur village. Jamni Bhan, the primogenitor of the Ex-Illakadar family of Sohagpur was the second son of Maharaja Virbhan Singh of Bagelkhand. When he settled at Sohagpur, he ensured the utmost facilities possible to the settlers around, and also affirmed that places will be named after their respective settlers who settled their first after clearing the forests. Shahdolwa Ahir is believed to have established the earlier village of Shahdolwa which is around 2.5 Km. from the headquarters of Sohagpur. Later on, Maharaja of Rewa and British officers on tour used the place for camping. More villages were included under the village of Shahdol as it proliferated into a town. Shortly after the princely states were merged together in 1948, the district headquarters moved from Umaria to Shahdol.

As per the 2001 India census, the population of Badra is 4755. Males and females respectively constitute 53% and 47% of the population. Badra has a mean literacy rate of 58%, lower than the nationwide mean of 59.5%. 63% of the males and 37% of the females are literate. 14% of the population constitutes children below six years of age.