Question

Who built the Grand Trunk Road?
A)Chandragupta Maurya
B)Sher Shah Suri
C)Jahangir
D)Lord Bentinck

Answer 1

Hint: 1)In the 16th Century, he rebuilt the Royal Road built by Chandragupta Maurya.
2)He rerouted the Grand Trunk Road at Sonargaon and Rohtas.
3)He called this road ‘Sadak-e-Azam’.

Complete answer:
The Grand Trunk Road or the GT Road was built by Sher Shah Suri. It is one of the longest and oldest roads in Asia. It is roughly 3710km long and connects Central Asia to the Indian Subcontinent. It spans from Kabul, Afghanistan to Teknaf in Bangladesh.
Before The Sur Dynasty
Around the 3rd Century BC, there was an ancient route called Uttarapatha. This ancient route called Uttarapatha was controlled by the Kushan Emperor, Kanishka. Over this very route, Chandragupta Maurya built a highway, connecting the mouth of river Ganga to the north-western frontier of his Empire. King Ashoka made further improvements to this road. He recorded his works in his edicts. His edicts tell us about the trees he planted along the road and the wells that he built at every half kos (an ancient unit of measuring distance). He also built many “Nimi Adhyayas” which were rest-houses for the travelers.
During the Sur Dynasty
The modern Grand Trunk Road was the result of Sher Shah Suri rebuilding the Royal Road built by Chandragupta Maurya in the 16th Century. He rerouted the Grand Trunk Road at Sonargaon and Rohtas. He increased the width of the road. He also planted shade trees and fruit trees along the road. At every two kos, he built caravanserai or roadside inns for the travelers and whoever stopped there were provided with food and shelter for free.
Later, Islam Shah Suri (the second son of Sher Shah Suri) constructed additional caravanserais between every caravanserai originally built by his father. He built them on the road towards Bengal. The Grand Trunk Road was called ‘Sadak-e-Azam’ by the Suri Dynasty.
Option (A) Chandragupta Maurya: This option is incorrect. He rebuilt the part of the Uttarapatha and constructed the Royal Road from River Ganga to his Empire.

Option (C) Jahangir: This option is incorrect. He used the same path built by Sher Shah Suri and called it ‘Badshahi Sadak’.
Option (D) Lord Bentinck: This option is incorrect. The construction of the modern-day Grand Trunk Road was completed by Lord Bentinck in the 19th Century.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B)

Note: 1)The modern metalled road that we know today as The Grand Trunk Road was constructed by the British East India Company. It was rebuilt at a cost of 1000 pounds per mile.
2)They set up a Public Works Department for this purpose.
3)Along with this, the Thomason College of Civil Engineering was also established to train and employ engineers to perform the works on the construction of the road and also to maintain it in future.