Transcending Postcolonial Frontiers: Re-envisaging the Grand Trunk Road
The essay calls for a re-imagining and reshaping of colonial constructs. It concisely encapsulates the history of the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road), from the 16th century when it was referred to as ‘Sadak-e-Azam’ to the late 19th century, when the road was completed under the administration of Lord William Bentinck and was renamed as ‘The Grand Trunk Road’ to contemporary times when it connects multiple cities with National Highways as part of the Golden Quadrilateral project and remains a ‘continuum’ that covers a distance of over 2,500 kilometres. While highlighting its importance in terms of its criticality as a geopolitical/strategic connect, the essay concludes on the note that there is much more to the GT Road than being a mere logistical, infrastructural tool. It serves as a political and cultural connect as well as embodies a way of life and these historic and organic connections require reinforcement. The essay underlines the symbolic value of the GT Road, while it comprises the mainstay of commerce in the subcontinent but, at the same time is significant in terms of rearranging social and political hierarchies, in other words, it constitutes an intrinsic part of the broader narrative of the south Asian space.