Delhi to Mussoorie & the Grand Trank Road

Shri Nathji was very fond of the Grand Trunk Road, which he used on his travels, between New Delhi to Mussorie. This highway was the one which Shri Nathji most frequented. Infect the Grand Trunk Road, only took Him from Delhi till Ghaziabad. From Ghaziabad the Grand Trunk Road turns right towards Aligarh, were as Shri Nathji took a left towards Meerut, the road which is known as the Indo Tibetan Highway. He followed the Indo Tibetan Highway upto the town of Roorkee, the greatest distance on this route. From there He used to take a left towards Saharanpur and travel a short distance towards Chutmalpur  on another National Highway named NH 73. And then take the Rajpur Road, from Chutmalpur to Dehradon, which is now NH 72A.. From Dehradoon He undertook the last 30Kms. of the journey by  the Mussorie Road. So Infect, He used five roads to travel the total distance of 280 Kms. from Delhi to Dehradon : -

1.     The Grand Trunk Road  - From Delhi upto to Gaziabad. (The Historic Grand Trunk  Road covers a distance of over 2,500 kilometres, between Chittagong and Kabul and travels across four countries.)

2.    The Indo Tibetan Highway – From Gaziabad to Roorkee, (Also called NH – 58, This 538 km (334 mi) highway Starts from Gaziabad and goes uptil the village of Mana near Badrinath. The highway is constructed and maintained by National Highway Authority of India from Delhi to Rishikesh and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) of Indian Army from Rishikesh, where the plains end and the mountains start, to its northernmost end. Pl see map.)

3.    NH – 73 – A very short distance between Roorkee to Chutmalpur. (NH - 73 is a National Highway that connects Roorkee in Uttarakhand to Panchkula in Haryana, which is near Chandigarh. The highway is 188 km (117 mi) long. Pl see map)

4.    Rajpur Road - From Chutmalpur to Dehradon. (This is now NH 72A)

5.    Mussoorie Road – From Dehradon to Mussorie (This is a state Highway)

Of these the larges distance travelled was on the Indo - Tibetan Highway. But He was fond of calling this route the Grand Trunk Road as this was the once which He took while starting.   

The Grand Trunk Road is one of South Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For several centuries, it has linked the eastern and western regions of the Indian subcontinent, running from Chittagong, Bangladesh through to Howrah, West Bengal in India, across north India into Peshawar (in present day Pakistan), up to Kabul, Afghanistan. Its former names include Uttarapatha ("the road to north"), Shah Rah-e-Azam ("great road") or Sadak-e-Azam or Badshahi Sadak.

The route spanning the GT road existed during the Mauryan Empire, extending from the mouth of the Ganges to the north-western frontier of the Empire. In the 16th century, a major road running across the Gangetic plain was built afresh by Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri, who then ruled much of northern India. His intention was to link together the remote provinces of his vast empire for administrative and military reasons. The Sadak-e-Azam ('great road') as it was then known, is universally recognized as having been the precursor of the Grand Trunk Road.

The Mughals, who succeeded the Suris, extended the road westwards to Kabul in Afghanistan, crossing the Khyber Pass and eastwards to port city of Chittagong. This road was later improved by the British rulers of colonial India. Renamed the "Grand Trunk Road" (sometimes referred to as the "Long Walk"), it was extended to run from Calcutta to Peshawar and thus to span a major portion of India. A photo is given of early 1800 of Grand Trunk Road at Ambala being used by British troops.

Within India, the major portion of the road – the stretch between Howrah to Kanpur is NH-2 and Kanpur to Delhi – is known as National Highway 91 (NH 91) and that between Delhi and Wagah, at the border with Pakistan, is known as NH-1. From the Pakistan border the Grand Trunk Road (part of the N-5) continues north through Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Attock District, Nowshera, Peshawar and Landi Kotal. It then enters Afghanistan through the Khyber pass and continues west through Jalalabad, Surobi and ends at Kabul, a large part of the Afghan leg of Grand Trunk Road is today part of the Jalalabad-Kabul Road.

Today, the Grand Trunk Road remains a continuum that covers a distance of over 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi). From its origin at Chittagong, it traverses to Sonargaon and enters India at Petrople. The part of the G.T. Road between Petropole and Howrah is the NH – 35. the stretch between Howrah to Kanpur is NH-2 and Kanpur to Delhi – is known as National Highway 91 (NH 91) and that between Delhi and Wagah, at the border with Pakistan, is known as NH-1. From the Pakistan border the Grand Trunk Road is mostly the N-5 Highway, which continues north through Lahore, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Nowshera, Peshawar and Landi Kotal. It then enters Afghanistan through the Khyber pass and continues west through Jalalabad, Surobi and ends at Kabul, a large part of the Afghan leg of Grand Trunk Road is today part of the Jalalabad-Kabul Road.