Grand Trunk Road Trade

The great road of northern India rebuilt by Sher Shah Suri in the 16th century, carrying commerce from Bengal to Kabul.

Overview

An ancient northern route across the Gangetic plain existed in Mauryan times, but Sher Shah Suri rebuilt it in the 1540s with caravanserais, wells, shade trees and milestones, and the Mughals maintained it. Merchants, pilgrims, armies and postal runners moved along it between Bengal, Agra, Delhi, Lahore and Peshawar, with links over the Khyber Pass to Kabul and Central Asia. Textiles, indigo, saltpeter, horses and dried fruit were all part of its trade. The British metalled it in the 19th century and called it the Grand Trunk Road. Rudyard Kipling described it as a river of life, and it remains a principal highway of South Asia.