RAS question
Sher Shah Suri built the 'Grand Trunk Road' (Sadak-i-Azam) connecting which two cities?
Correct answer: (B) Sonargaon (Bengal) to Peshawar.
Sher Shah Suri's Grand Trunk Road, or Sadak-i-Azam, connected Sonargaon in Bengal with Peshawar in the north-west.
Explanation
Sher Shah Suri is remembered for building the Grand Trunk Road, also called Sadak-i-Azam, on the long east-west line from Sonargaon in Bengal to Peshawar in the north-west. This road was about 2,500 km long and supported trade, communication and military movement. eGyanKosh (IGNOU), Unit 24: Transport and Communication notes that, long before later networks, Sher Shah refurbished the communication route connecting Sonargaon, near Dhaka, with Delhi and Attock, near Peshawar. This makes option B the only option that captures the road's full strategic span, rather than a shorter regional segment.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Delhi to Agra names two important Mughal-era centres, but it reduces the route to a short central stretch instead of the Sonargaon-to-Peshawar line.
- (C) Patna to Surat does not fit the east-west axis from Bengal towards the north-west.
- (D) Lahore to Kabul lies on the north-western side of the wider route network, but it omits Sonargaon and does not match the Grand Trunk Road span asked here.
Concept
This tests medieval Indian transport and communication under Sher Shah Suri. RAS often asks such questions because roads, sarais and route networks link administrative control with trade and military mobility.