Grand Trunk Road sites

Photo by Roman Bruehwiler.

Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road is part of the Tentative list of India in order to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

The Sites along the Grand Trunk Road represent a British colonial road system connecting Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Parts of this cultural and trade route already existed in earlier periods, from the 4rd century BC on, hence the three other names for it. The propsoal includes 93 locations.

92 Locations 1 Reviews 29 Visitors

Map of Grand Trunk Road sites

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The coordinates shown for all tentative sites were produced as a community effort. They are not official and may change on inscription.

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Els Slots

The Netherlands - 13-Dec-23 -

Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road (T) by Els Slots

I am going to highjack this Indian TWHS to share something related to the wider Grand Trunk Road. After all, the Grand Trunk Road reached from the east of Bangladesh to Kabul, connecting the Indian subcontinent with Central Asia. This trajectory now crosses the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

The town of Attari is one of the serial components proposed by India; this is the border town with Pakistan and the venue of the daily Wagah-Attari border ceremony. While travelling through Pakistan, I managed to watch this ceremony from the Pakistani side. Attending it from either side is a travel bucket list thing and it even exceeded my high expectations.

So, since 1959 India and Pakistan have lowered their flags in a joint effort to mark the daily closure of this border crossing on the Grand Trunk Road. It lies only about 30km from Lahore and makes for a fine half-day trip from there. It’s probably better set up to receive tourists than anything else in Pakistan: there are a café, snack vendors and toilets next to the parking lot where you have to wait til about 30 minutes before the ceremony starts. My phone thought I’d crossed the border already and pinged “Welcome to India. The rates are…”.

Once the guards lift the barrier, you may walk to the actual border. Along the way Pakistani flags are sold and ‘make-up artists’ are available to paint your face in green and white. Banners show the strength of the Pakistani military and its fallen soldiers. The border line is surrounded by 2 halves of football stadium-like stands: a huge one on the Indian side and a more modest one on the Pakistani side. I guess there were about 500 Pakistani visitors and 3,000-5,000 Indians. Overall it felt much like the lead-up to watching an important football match between two rivalling sides.

The pre-show on the Pakistani side is limited to one drummer and one animator, who try to make the Pakistani cheer as hard as they can and yell “Pakistan – Zamindat!” (Long live Pakistan) and “Allahu Akbar”. The Indians probably couldn’t hear us (we hardly heard anything from their side either) because both sides continuously blasted nationalistic songs from the loudspeakers. On the Indian side, they have a bit more of a show, with dancers. The Pakistani border guards, selected to be tall and sporting mustaches, are available to take photos with before and after the show.

We had VIP-seats, but still it was necessary to find a seat as close as possible to the actual border line as that’s where all the interaction takes place. People were still arriving at their seats well into the ceremony, sometimes obstructing the views. I brought my superzoom camera and that was necessary as well.

You shouldn’t focus too much on taking photos, however, as it all goes by so quickly and a lot goes on simultaneously. The closing-the-border ceremony nowadays starts with two female guards from either side marching to the borderline. The soldiers then go through a whole ritual of steps, ending with the commanders shaking hands. The funniest part I found was the one with the rope: before lowering both flags, they have to unwind the rope from the pole – they kind of do a race to see which side gets it loose first.

Despite the poor relations between these two countries, they have continued this tradition which is a hugely coordinated act that to me speaks more about their brotherhood than anything else.

Read more from Els Slots here.

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Site Info

Full Name
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road
Country
India
Added
2015
Type
Cultural
Categories
Human activity - Transport and Trade
Link
By ID

Site History

2015 Revision

Includes former TWHS Sites along the Badshahi Marg - The Grand Trunk Road (2014)

2015 Revision

Includes former TWHS Akbar's Tomb, Sikandara (1985-1994) and its predecessor Sikandra - Akbar's tomb (1981)

2015 Added to Tentative List

2014 Revision

As 'Sites along the Badshahi Marg - The Grand Trunk Road': includes former TWHS Tomb of Sher Shah Suri, Sasaram, Bihar (1998)

Site Links

Unesco Website: Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road

Locations

The site has 92 locations

Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient Site and Buddhist Stupa (Sanghol) Fatehgarh Sahib (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Attari (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient site in (Ropar) Rupnagar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient site at Firozpur (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient site at Bathinda (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient site. Rambagh Gate and Road. Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Pul Kanjri. Sarai Khwaspur. Old Tehsil (Ajnala) at Amritsar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient site. Commissioner's Residence at Jalandhar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient site. Kos Minar (Khanna). Kos Minar (Sunnahwal/ Sanehwal). Mughal Sarai (Doraha). Sarai Lakshari Khan at Ludhiana (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Site and Kos Minar at Rajgarh (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Gateway of the Old Sarai ? Akbar or Jahangir on the Old Delhi Lahore Road (Amanat Khan). 3N (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Ancient site. Gateway of the Old Sarai - Akbar or Jahangir on the Old Delhi Lahore Road and Mosque at Fatehabad (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Kos Minars on Old Badshahi Highway from Delhi to Lahore (Bir Pind), Mughal Bridge and Sarai including Gateway (Dakhni). Tomb of Muhammad Momin and Haji Jamal. Nakodar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Sarai including Gateway. Kos Minars on Old Badshahi Highway from Delhi to Lahore . (Chima Kalan) Nurmahal (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Theh Gatti Mound (Nagar) and Ancient Mound (Katpalon). Phillaur Fort at Phillaur (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Hadira Sultanpur Lodhi, Moorish Mosque and Gol Kothi at Kapurthala (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Aam Khas Bagh. Mosque Bhagat Sadna Kasai. Jahaji Haveli (Todar Mal) at Sirhind (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Tomb of Ustad. Talania, Tomb of Shagird (Talani), Tomb of Amir Ali. (Dera Meer Mian). Fatehgarh Sahib (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Kos Minar.N (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Punjab Mughal Sarai. Sambhu. Patiala (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Buddhist Stupa at Chaneti. Yamunanagar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site at Sirsa (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site at Agroha (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site at Hansi (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site at Rohtak (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site at Pehowa (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site, Kos Minar and Cantonment at Ambala (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site at Topra (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Ancient site at Sugh (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Kosminar, Faridabad- os (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Gateway of Old Mughal Sarai (Gharaunda), Mughal bridge. os Kos Minars. Cantonment Church Tower and European Soldier?s Grave at Karnal (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Thanesar Sarai (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Kosminar, Kurukshetra- 9N (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Haryana Kosminar, Panipat- 6N (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttarakhand Ancient site at Kalsi (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttarakhand Ancient site at Rishikesh (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttarakhand Ancient site at Haridwar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttarakhand Ancient site at Kashipur (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Delhi Ashokan Pillars (Ferozabad. RidgeN (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Delhi Red Fort (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Delhi Purana Quila. Humayun's Tomb. Sher shah's gate with the adjoinining curon walls and Bastions and the remains of the double line of structure to its front. opposite Puran Qila (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Delhi The Moti Gate of Sher Shah Suri and Kos Minar (Babarpur Bazipur/Kakanagar) (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Delhi Gateways and enclosure of Badarpur Sarai. Kos Minars at Badarpur (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Delhi Kosminar at Village Kotla Mahigiran (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Rajasthan Ancient site at (Bairat) Viratnagar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Moradhwaj (Bijnaur) (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ashokan Pillar at Kosambi and Allahabad (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Mathura (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Agra (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Bateshwar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Chakranagar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Kalpi (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Musanagar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Jajmau (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Kaushambi (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Jhusi (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Lakshagriha (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Pillar Inscription at Sarnath.N (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Ahraura (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Latif Shah (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Ratan Pura. Mau (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Hastinapur (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Meerut (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Lakhimpur/Lakhmapur (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Ahichchatra (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Sravasti (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Ayodhya (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Lucknow (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Ancient site at Kushinagar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Stupa at Pawa (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Firozabad (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Agra Fort. Kos Minars on Agra - Fatehpur Sikri Road. Tomb of Salabat Khan. Itibari Khan's Mosque. Chauburji of the temporary Burial place of the emperor Babur. together with the Chabutra on which it stands. Statute of Akbar's Horse on the Agra-Sikandara Road (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Uttar Pradesh Akbar's Tomb. Sikandara (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ancient Buddhist sites at Bodh Gaya (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ashokan edicts at Lauriya-N (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Minor Rock Edicts at Mahasthan (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Minor Rock Edicts. Tomb of Sher Shah Suri. Shergarh Fort . Tomb of Alabal Khan at Sasaram (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ashokan Pillar edicts at Vaishali. Bihar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ancient site at Champa/Bhagalpur (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ancient site at Rampurwa (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ancient site at Areraj (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ancient site at Rajgir (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ancient site at (Patliputra) Patna (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Ancient site at Nalanda (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Caves at Barabar (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Tomb of Shamsher Khan and Fort of Daud Khan (Daudnagar). Aurangabad (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Bihar Tomb of Hasan Shah Suri and Rohtasgarh fort. Rohtas (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: Jharkhand Topchanchi Town (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: West Bengal Ancient site at Chandraketugarh (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: West Bengal Tamralipti or Tamluk (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: West Bengal Tomb of Baharam Sakka. Sher Afghan and Nawab Qutabuddin. Burdwan (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: West Bengal Badsahi or Hussain Shai mosque at Nutanhat (T)
Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road: West Bengal Hussain Shah mosque at Kulutia (T)

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