Uttarapatha: Why India’s first trans-regional highway needs to be brought back

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 a 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 periods 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 travellers, 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   [caption id=“attachment_12141962” align=“alignnone” width=“511”] Image 1: Uttarapatha and the various by-roads that are connected to it (600 BCE to 300 CE).[/caption] 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 shortcuts, which were marked by signposts 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 the roadway network and rapid modernisation, it is imperative that the government does not forget history.   Uttarapatha 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- Uttarapatha.   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. The author is a well-known travel and heritage writer. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.