Bringing back the Uttarapatha

From the proto historic era of the Sindhu Saraswati civilization, India

has been a trading nation, offering its luxury and highly prized

commodities to the world, such as spices, perfumes, fine textiles (cotton

and silk), jewel, steel, and medicines. Indian traders were well known

across the proto-historic and ancient cultures of the world; and even

within the sub-continent they commanded great respect and held

powerful positions within the society, as they busily moved around in

their large caravans looking to make profit. Under such scenario of a

flourishing trade and commerce, inevitably the trade routes became the

veins of the economic life of the country from the earliest times, as they

determined national progress while breaking down barriers of regional

and global level economic isolations. Even the tracks of the Paleolithic

era, which later developed in trade routes, were signs of social-economic

connections between the various cultural groups and subgroups. Roads,

tracks, and routes, played an important part not only in trade and
commerce, but also helped in socio-cultural exchanges and in the spread

of religions from early period in human civilization.

The ancient trade routes are best traced through documentations made in

various old texts. As for example, in Rig Veda we find that Marut made

routes by breaking the hills that came in the way; routes were also made

by burning down trees (as RV tells of Indra who burns down forests to

make ways); Agni was considered as the chief deity for making ways

and facilitating travelling; while Soma and Pusan were regarded as

protectors of roads. Commercial significance of various routes were

recognized in the Atharva Veda, and prayers were made to the Earth

/Bhu devi for keeping the traders safe from enemies and robbers.

Satapatha Brahmana talks of a route from the Saraswati River to central

India, and mentions few towns on the way, such as Asandivat (could be

Nagasahavya/Hastinapur near Kurukshetra), Parichakra, Kampilya,

Nimisa, etc. In the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, there are mentions

of routes followed by travelers, as well the roads taken by the armies.

The best sources of the old trade routes as taken by the merchants for
their commercial activities (during the time of Buddha and later) are

from Pali literature (Buddhist literature), which often present the

topography of the routes with a fair amount of accuracy.

Uttarapatha
Image 1: Uttarapatha and the various by-roads that are connected to it

(600 BCE to 300 CE).

Among the various ancient trade routes in the sub-continent, the most

famous is the Great Northern Route or the Uttarapatha. To trace this

ancient route, the best point to start is at Taksasila, which was the capital

of Gandhara kingdom. Taksasila, being an important nodal point of trade

and education in the ancient times, was connected to Kosala, Malla,

Avanti, Kuru, Magadha, Sivi, Sravasti, Kashi, etc. The Uttarapatha,

which connected Taksasila to Mathura, went towards the Chenab and

Jhelum rivers, initially taking a south-east direction (later turning south),

passing through Bhadramkara (Sialkot), Sakala (Sakalanagara/Sagala in

Pali), Udamabara (Pathankot), Aggalapura (Agroha), Rohitaka (Rohtak),

and Mathura. It is believed that the messengers of Vasistha had taken

this very route while travelling between Udumbara and Sakala, the latter

being a trade junction of some significance. From Sakala the road

reached Mathura via Rohitaka following the Yamuna river course.

Mathura being an important trade centre was connected to the various

other towns and cities near it (Vernja, Soreyya, Samkasya, Kanyakubja,

Payahapatitthana/Prayaga), which formed a part of intra-road-web of the

great Uttarapatha. Of these, Soyeyya was an important trade junction,

and from Dhammapada Atthakatja it is learned that during the times of

Buddha, the caravan route from Sravasti while moving up north towards

Taksasila, would go via Soreyya, passing through Saketa, Prayaga,

Alavi, Kanyakubja, Soreyya, Hastinapura, and finally meeting the

Uttarapatha at Sakala, thus forming one of the important by-routes of the

Uttarapatha.

Prayaga, situated at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna, was

another important city by the Uttarapatha, a fording place on the way to

Varanasi/Kasi. From Prayaga there were routes connecting it to Vaishali,

Sravasti, Sahajati, Kausambi, Veranja, Soreyya, Samkasya, and

Kanyakubja. Kausambi, capital of the Vatsas, was one of the great six

cities (as per Mahaparinibbanasutta) at the time of Buddha, more

important than Prayaga at that time and a busy trading centre that was

connected to Kosala, Rajgriha, and Vaisali through direct roads. The

connection between Prayaga and Varanasi went through two roads; one

avoided Kausambi and directly connected Prayaga to Varanasi; while

the other went to Varanasi via Kausambi, Sahajato, and Sumsumagiri

(could be Chunar). Varanasi, though subservient to Sravasti at the time

of Buddha, was still among the most important cities owing to its

religious, cultural, and economic significances, and finds mentions in

almost all the jatakas. Varanasi had strong trade connections with

Taksasila, and the potters of Varanasi were known to visit Taksasila

regularly with their heavy loads of pottery. Owing to its position,

Varanasi also had strong trade relations with Campa, Rajgriha, Mithila,

and other cities of Uttarapatha. There was also a direct road connection

from Varanasi to Gaya via Sarnath, which was most likely followed by

Buddha after attaining sambodhi in Uruvela (near Gaya).

From Varanasi as the road moved further east, it passed through three

important cities- Vaisali, Rajgrha, and Campa. The route was touched at

this part (in Vaisali) by roads coming in from Ukkacala (Utkala) and

Nalanda. From Vaisali to Rajgrha via Pataliputra the Uttarapatha passed

through Nadika, Korigama, Pataligama, Ambalatthika, and crossed the

Ganga at Pataliputra. From Rajgrha as the route moved further eastward,

the three other important commercially important cities that it touched

were- Bhaddiya (Anga kingdom), Campa, and Tamralipti. The Campa to

Tamralipti route that went via Kajangala followed the lower course of

the Ganga, and it is believed that Bhima while on his digvijaya of

eastern India had followed this trade route connecting Campa and

Tamralipti. Tamralipti was the last outpost on this road for export trade

to Suvarnabhumi and other countries of the Far East. The Uttarapatha or

the Great Northern Route had several by-routes and short cuts, which

were marked by sign posts on the route as documented in various old

Pali texts.

Megasthenes, the Greek historian, gave some interesting insight into the

details of Uttarapatha, which was the main commercial route or the

vanik patha during the Mauryan era. Megasthenes described the path in

8 stages, which are as follows:

The image here depicts the 8 stages of the Uttarapatha as described by

Megasthenes. The route which was described by the Greeks as ‘Royal

Road’ started from Puskalavati (Peukelaotis) and it came to Taksasila

(Taxila) via Udabhanda (Ohind) on the right bank of the Sindhu /Indus,

which was a convenient place for trans-shipment of goods on the river.

From Taksasila it moved across the rivers Jhelum (Hydaspes), Beas

(Hyphasis) and Sutlej (Hesidrus), and finally reached Yamuna (Jamna).

From Yamuna the route moved towards Ganga via Hastinapura,

reaching Rhodopha (not identified with certainty). From Rhodopha it

came to Kanyakubja (Kallinapaxa), proceeding further east to

Pataliputra and finally ending at Tamralipta, a sea port and a trading

town.
The Uttarapatha was thus a major trans-regional trade route of ancient

India that made movement possible from far away north-west corners to

the eastern parts of India. It was a land-cum-river route, as in some parts

it involved crossing rivers; and the route helped not only in commercial

activities, but also in the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism across in the

South East Asian countries.

The current BJP government under our PM Narendra Modi has been

steadfastly focused on developing and improving infrastructure, with a

special emphasis on building highways under the Road Transport and

Highways minister Nitin Gadkari, for better and faster commuting.

Under their leadership the Indian road network has seen a gigantic leap,

changing the very perception of Indian roads from being pothole riddled

ones to high speed national highways. New roads have been built where

none existed, 2 lanes upgraded to 4 lanes, and existing 4 lanes made into

smooth highways and expressways. Amidst such quantum growth of

roadway network and rapid modernisation, it is imperative that the

government does not forget history. Uttarapath was among India’s first
trans-regional highways that was the lifeline of ancient India’s economy,

bringing in immense wealth to the nation from various parts of the

world. From being named as Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, to now

being known as the Grand Trunk Road (GT road), it is important that the

government changes the name of this road to what it was originally

known as- Uttarapath. Bringing back the original name will be a fitting

tribute to the golden days when Indians led the global trade, and to the

ancient mercantile community that once used this route to travel across

the ancient world, bringing in wealth and prosperity to India, while

spreading Indian culture across the globe.

Image 3: Grand Trunk Road in Howrah, 1960s.