The 'Grand Trunk Road' (abbreviated to GT Road in common usage) is one of
South Asia's oldest and longest major
roads. For several centuries, it has linked the eastern and western regions of the
Indian subcontinent, running from
Bengal, across north
India, into
Peshawar in
Pakistan.
Route
Today, the Grand Trunk Road remains a continuum that covers a distance of over 2,500 km.
Bangladesh
The Grand Trunk road begins at
Sonargaon in the
Narayanganj district of
Bangladesh.
India
Within India, it passes through
Kolkata,
Bardhaman,
Durgapur,
Asansol,
Amritsar,
Varanasi,
Allahabad,
Kanpur,
Agra,
Delhi,
Kurukshetra and
Ambala. Within India, the major portion of the road, the stretch between Kanpur and Kolkata, is known as
NH-2 (National Highway - 2), the stretch between Kanpur and Delhi is called
NH-91 (National Highway - 91), and that between Delhi and
Wagah, at the border with Pakistan, is known as NH-1.
Pakistan
The Grand Trunk Road enters Pakistan on the Wagah border and continues through
Lahore towards the north of Pakistan via ,
Gujranwala,
Gujrat,
Jhelum,
Rawalpindi,
Attock District and then
Peshawar.
History
Evolution of Indian road network. The main map shows the routes since the Mughal times, Inset A shows the major cultural currents of the prehistorical period, B shows pre-
Mauryan Indian routes, C shows the Mauryan network,
D shows the trade routes at the beginning of the Christian era, and E shows the Indian "Z".
Recent research indicates that during the time of the
Maurya empire, overland trade between India and several parts of
western Asia and the world went through the cities of the north-west, primarily
Taxila (located in present day
Pakistan)(see inset in map). Taxila was well connected by roads with other parts of the Maurya empire. The Mauryas had built a highway from Taxila to
Pataliputra (present-day
Patna in
Bihar, India).
For centuries, the 'Grand Trunk Road' has served as the main artery from travel across
northern India. A scene from the
Ambala cantonment during the
British Raj.
In the
16th century, a major road running across the Gangetic plain was built afresh by Pashtun emperor
Sher Shah Suri, who then ruled much of northern India. His intention was to link together the remote provinces of his vast empire for administrative and military reasons. The ''Sadak-e-Azam'' ("great road") as it was then known, is universally recognized as having been the precursor of the Grand Trunk Road.
The road was initially built by Sher Shah to connect
Agra, his capital, with
Sasaram, his hometown. It was soon extended westward to
Multan and eastward to
Sonargaon in
Bengal (now in Bangladesh). While Sher Shah died after a brief reign, and his dynasty ended soon afterwards, the road endured as his outstanding legacy. The Mughals, who succeeded the
Suris, extended the road westwards: at one time, it extended to
Kabul in
Afghanistan, crossing the
Khyber pass. This road was later improved by the
British rulers of
colonial India. Renamed the "Grand Trunk Road" (sometimes referred to as the "Long Walk"), it was extended to run from
Calcutta to
Peshawar and thus to span a major portion of
British India.
Over the centuries, the road, which was one of the most important
trade routes in the region, facilitated both travel and postal communication. Even during the era of Sher Shah Suri, the road was dotted with ''
caravansarai''s (highway inns) at regular intervals, and trees were planted on both sides of the road to give shade to the passers-by.The road was well planned, with milestones along the whole stretch. Some of these milestones can still be seen along the present delhi ambala highway. On another note, the road also facilitated the rapid movement of troops and of foreign invaders. It expedited the looting raids, into India's interior regions, of
Afghan and
Persian invaders and also facilitated the movement of British troops from Bengal into the north Indian plain.
The Grand Trunk Road continues to be one of the major arteries of
India and
Pakistan. The
Indian section is part of the ambitious
Golden Quadrilateral project. For over four centuries, the Grand Trunk Road has remained "such a river of life as nowhere else exists in the world".
[1]
New Grand Trunk Road
A new Grand Trunk Road, also called the
National Highway 5 or N5, has been built in Pakistan. It begins in the port city of
Karachi located in
Sindh province and stretches north to
Thatta,
Hyderabad, and
Moro before crossing into
Punjab province where it passes through
Multan,
Sahiwal,
Lahore,
Gujranwala,
Gujrat,
Jhelum and
Rawalpindi. In Rawalpindi, it turns eastwards and passes
Attock before crossing the
Indus River into
NWFP province where is passes through
Nowshera,
Peshawar before reaching the border town of
Torkham crossing into Afghanistan.
See also
★
National Highway Authority
★
National Highways of Pakistan
★
Motorways of Pakistan
★
Expressways of India
★
National Highways Development Project
Literature
★ Farooque, Abdul Khair Muhammad (1977), ''Roads and Communications in Mughal India.'' Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli.
★ Weller, Anthony (1997), ''Days and Nights on the Grand Trunk Road: Calcutta to Khyber''. Marlowe & Company.
★
Kipling, Rudyard (1901), ''
Kim''. Considered one of Kipling's finest works, it is set mostly along the Grand Trunk Road. Free e-texts are available, for instance
here.
External links
★
National Highway Authority]
★
From the Banglapedia
★
At Livius.org
Notes
1. A description of the road by Kipling, found both in his letters and in the novel "Kim". He writes: ''"Look! Brahmins and chumars, bankers and tinkers, barbers and bunnias, pilgrims -and potters - all the world going and coming. It is to me as a river from which I am withdrawn like a log after a flood. And truly the Grand Trunk Road is a wonderful spectacle. It runs straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for fifteen hundred miles - such a river of life as nowhere else exists in the world."''
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