<P> Research indicates that the Grand Trunk road predated even Buddha's birth and was called Uttara Path, meaning, road to the North . Salman Rashid attributes the Road's construction to Chandragupta Maurya . During the time of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BCE, overland trade between India and several parts of Western Asia and the Hellenistic world went through the cities of the north - west, primarily Takshashila (in present - day in Pakistan). Takshashila was well connected by roads with other parts of the Maurya empire . The Mauryas had maintained this very ancient highway from Takshashila to Pataliputra (present - day Patna in India). Chandragupta Maurya had a whole army of officials overseeing the maintenance of this road as told by the Greek diplomat Megasthenes who spent fifteen years at the Mauryan court . Constructed in eight stages, this road is said to have connected the cities of Purushapura, Takshashila, Hastinapura, Kanyakubja, Prayag, Pataliputra and Tamralipta, a distance of around 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi). </P> <P> Sher Shah however remains the only mentioned person as the builder of what is now the complete stretch of GT Road, which was referred to as Shah Rah e Azam (Urdu: شاہراہ اعظم ‬ ‎ or The Great Road). During his reign, Caravanserais were built and trees were planted along the entire stretch on both sides of the road to provide shade to travelers . Wells were also dug, especially along the Taxila section . The Mughuls later extended the road further east to Chittagong and west to Kabul and referred to the road as Sarak e Azam (Urdu: سڑک اعظم ‬ ‎, also meaning The Great Road). </P> <P> In the 1830's the East India Company started a programme of metalled road construction, for both commercial and administrative purposes . The Grand trunk road, from Calcutta, through Delhi, to Peshawar (present - day Pakistan) was rebuilt at a cost of £ 1000 / mile, and a Public Works Department, and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee founded, to train and employ local surveyors, engineers, and overseers, to perform the work, and in future maintain it and other roads . </P> <P> Over the centuries, the road acted as one of the major trade routes in the region and facilitated both travel and postal communication . The Grand Trunk Road is still used for transportation in present - day India, where parts of the road have been widened and included in the national highway system, retaining the old name . </P>

Who repaired grand trunk road from calcutta to delhi