Question

The National Highway which is also called the Grand Trunk Road, connects which of the following pair of cities?
a. Kolkata, Delhi
b. Ahmedabad, Amritsar
c. Kolkata, Kanyakumari
d. Varanasi, Kanyakumari

Answer 1

Hint:
One of the oldest road routes in India is the Grand Trunk Road, a national highway. It runs to Pakistan via Haora and is the main route that connects the city with northern India. National highways also connect Kolkata with India's west coast, the northern part of West Bengal, and the Bangladesh border.

Complete solution:

- As the ancient track runs through different kingdoms and empires, the road has become a connecting path primarily for merchants. Sher Shah Suri, who restored and expanded the route in the 17th century, repaired the road. In the 17th century, it was the British who came to India, giving the road the name by which it is now known.

- Odd numbers are reserved for all the highways from East to West. The highways are numbered in ascending numbers from East to West in this case. In other words, lower numbers for high latitudes and higher numbers for lower latitudes are allocated. NH-8 is located in J&K, for example, and NH-87 is located in Tamil Nadu.

- A major national highway in India, connecting the states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, was Old National Highway 2 or Old NH 2, (currently National Highway 19 (India)). Along with old NH 91 and old NH 1 in India, it constitutes a major portion of the historical Grand Trunk Road.

- The Shahi (Royal) road was established by Sher Shah Suri to strengthen and consolidate his empire from the Indus Valley to Bengal's Sonar Valley. During the British era, this road was renamed the Grand Trunk (GT) road, linking Calcutta and Peshawar. It stretches, at present, from Amritsar to Kolkata. It is divided into two sections: (a) National Highway(NH)-1 to Amritsar from Delhi, and (b) NH-2 to Kolkata from Delhi.


Hence, the correct answer is option A.

Note:
- One of the oldest and longest main roads in Asia is the Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, Sarak-e-Sher Shah). It has connected Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent for at least 2,500 years.
- A major road running across the Gangetic plain was built in the 16th century by Sher Shah Suri, the Pashtun emperor of Northern India. It was known as "Sadak-e-Azam" and it acted as an administrative link to his vast empire's remote provinces.