ISLAMABAD, Feb 21 Like other roads in history, the Grand Trunk Road influenced every aspect of life, economic integration, spread of religions and cultures besides empire building in ancient India.

But today the part of it lying in Pakistan has lost its old character of an unpaved dirt and stone road that ambled through history. For most of its journey the G.T. Road of today is carpeted over, realigned and relocated with a modern web of roads.

Still, where possible, the Department of Archaeology has tried to save and preserve it for generations to come. One such original patch, nearly 100 metres long, that traced the pathway of kings survives behind the Nicholson's Monument near Taxila. But, alas, even this small historic piece of the grand road is threatened by the quarrying continuing all around it.

“Much history flowed through this roadway,” said Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisation (TIAC) Director Prof Ashraf Khan.

“Empire building needed the construction of grand roads in ancient and medieval times. Needless to say, economic factor would also remain important in such projects. The road system of the Achaemenids was one such example. It was, probably, Achaemenian instance that influenced the construction of the future Grand Trunk Road in the Indian subcontinent,” Prof Khan explained.

The history of the G.T. Road is generally traced back to the founder of the Mauryan dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya. It was said Chandragupta might have taken the idea of such a wide-stretched road from the Achaemenians.

In the pursuit of his empire building, he modeled his Royal Road on the pattern of the Jada-i-Shah of the Persians. His grandson, Ashoka, improved the road and built Sarais, or inns, along it and planted trees and sung several wells alongside for miles.

“During the period of the Sultans of Delhi, maintenance of this road attracted tremendous royal attention. But the real successor of this glorious Mauryan bequest came in the person of Sher Shah Suri, the Pakhtun ruler of India. He did his best to revive this dead channel of history. His dedication in this regard was proved by the fact that Sarak-i-Azam, renamed as Grand Trunk Road by the British. He widened the road, planted fruit and shady trees alongside it. And he built 1,700 Sarais at a distance of every two kilometres in five years,” Dr Khan said.

Mughal Emperors also took keen interest in the road system and developed the Sarais system, he said, adding “The British also did not fail in appreciating the importance of the G.T. Road. As soon as they took control of India they gave foremost attention to its improvement. It was due to the services of this road system that the British maintained their long sway in India.

According to the TIAC director, G.T. Road had great strategic importance. Whether the Mauryan Empire, Sultanate of Delhi, the Mughal Empire or the British in India, G.T. Road helped them in holding their sway successfully.

The road connected important centres of South Asia, especially of the Indian subcontinent. Stretching from Peshawar to Kolkata, it covered a distance of 1,500 miles or 2,400 kilometres. Its geo-strategic importance was also clear from the fact that from Alexander the Great onwards every invading force used this historic road, Dr Khan said.

Starting from Sonargaon in Central Bangladesh it touched important cities - Kolkata, Bardhaman, Durgapur, Asansol, Dhanbad, Aurangabad, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Aligarh, Delhi, Karnal, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. This road entered Pakistan near Wagah passing through Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rohtas, Jhelum, Rawat, Golra Sharif, Sarai Khola, Taxila, Wah, Attock Khurd, Nowshera, Peshawar, Jamrud, Ali Masjid, Landi Kotal. At Landi Kotal, the road crossed into Afghanistan.

At Taxila, near Nicolson's Monument on Margalla Pass, the road was renovated during the Mughal rule as revealed from an inscription found during the renovation by Department of Archaeology from the site, Dr Khan said.

The G.T. Road played a momentous role in the development of civilisation not only in South Asia but also in Central Asia and China. In the first place, it led to an important Persian influence over the Mauryan art.

Secondly, this road was frequented by Buddhist missionaries as well as by Chinese pilgrims. In the diffusion of the religion of Buddha into Central Asia, China and some other places, the GT Road remained an important vehicle. The movement of the people alongside this route also caused the influence of the Gandhara art into the arts of Central Asia and China.

The historic Grand Trunk Road had happened to be instrumental in the wide movement of people not only of Asia but of the parts of Europe.

A preliminary work on the ancient road was carried out by Dr Saifur Rahman Dar in his paper in the Journal of Asia.

“Now it is the responsibility of the researchers to work properly to explore the ancient routes such as track followed by Alexander the Great, Silk Road and the various routes followed by the Chinese pilgrims, Korean monks and Buddhist missionaries.