G.T. Road - হে রাজপথ - ইতিহাসের বিকৃতি দেখেও মৌন কেন? | History of G.T. Road

G.T. Road - হে রাজপথ - ইতিহাসের বিকৃতি দেখেও মৌন কেন? | History of G.T. Road
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The Suppressed Legacy: How British Historians Distorted the History of the Grand Trunk Road

The Grand Trunk Road (GT Road), stretching across the Indian subcontinent, is among the oldest and most important trade routes in Asia. Historically connecting Bengal to Kabul, it has served as a vital artery for commerce, culture, governance, and warfare. However, during the British colonial period, many historians and officials rewrote or minimized the indigenous history of this great road to align with imperial narratives. This suppression and reinterpretation served to justify colonial rule and diminish India’s pre-colonial achievements.

Ancient Origins: A Subcontinental Artery
The roots of the Grand Trunk Road trace back to antiquity. References to the route appear in ancient texts, including the Arthashastra of Kautilya (Chanakya), the minister to Emperor Chandragupta Maurya (4th century BCE). Historians generally agree that the Mauryan Empire developed a sophisticated road network, including a major highway connecting Pataliputra (modern Patna) to Takshashila (modern Taxila in Pakistan). The road facilitated trade, communication, and administration across the empire.

Subsequent dynasties, including the Guptas and Mughals, expanded and maintained the route. Emperor Sher Shah Suri (r. 1540–1545), in particular, is credited with renovating and formalizing the road's structure—planting trees, establishing serais (rest houses), and constructing milestones. The road evolved into a backbone of administrative efficiency and cultural integration across South Asia.

The Colonial Narrative: Minimization and Appropriation
When the British East India Company and later the Crown assumed control over India, they sought to impose a Eurocentric view of history. British historians like James Mill, who never visited India, framed the subcontinent’s past as a sequence of despotic regimes lacking scientific and moral progress. In this narrative, India’s infrastructural feats were either ignored or attributed to later, often British, interventions.

The British often credited themselves with the "creation" or "modernization" of the Grand Trunk Road, portraying it as a symbol of their civilizing mission. They downplayed the earlier contributions of Indian rulers—especially Islamic ones like Sher Shah Suri—casting the road as a crumbling relic until rescued by British engineering. In official records and maps, pre-British milestones were frequently omitted, and colonial-era road markers were emphasized.

Moreover, British road-building was portrayed as a technological leap, despite the fact that their work often relied on existing foundations. The colonial state’s focus on railways and telegraph lines overshadowed India’s ancient systems of connectivity, reinforcing the myth that modernity began only with British rule.

Distortion for Political Ends
This suppression was not accidental; it served ideological and administrative functions. By portraying India’s past as chaotic and underdeveloped, the British could justify their presence as necessary for order and progress. The GT Road, a concrete symbol of indigenous statecraft, contradicted this narrative. Minimizing its history undermined the legacy of Indian governance and masked the continuity of South Asian political and economic institutions.

Additionally, this distortion had educational consequences. British-established curricula in colonial schools rarely addressed India’s ancient infrastructure in detail. As a result, generations of Indians grew up unaware of the true antiquity and sophistication of their heritage.

Postcolonial Reclamation
In the post-independence period, Indian scholars have made efforts to reclaim the historical narrative of the Grand Trunk Road. Research in archaeology, epigraphy, and regional histories has helped reconstruct its ancient roots. The road is increasingly recognized not just as a transportation route but as a cultural corridor—linking diverse regions, languages, and peoples.

However, the colonial legacy in historical writing remains. Many textbooks still reflect British-era historiography, and the broader public remains under-informed about the road’s pre-British significance.

Conclusion
The Grand Trunk Road stands as a testament to the ingenuity and administrative acumen of ancient and medieval Indian rulers. Yet, British colonial historians, driven by ideological motives, suppressed and distorted its real history to validate imperial rule. Recovering and disseminating the true story of the GT Road is not only an act of historical correction—it is a step toward reclaiming a legacy of Indian civilization that predates colonialism by millennia.