From Landi Kotal to Wagah: Cultural Heritage Along the Grand Trunk Road

This is the story of one of the grandest highroads in the subcontinent richly steeped in legend and history. From the rugged contours of the Khyber Pass it bears the reader through a wondrous land of culture, heritage and a remarkably beautiful geography. From the middle of the sixth century BCE when Cyrus, the greatest king of the Achaemenian empire, annexed modern day Pakistan right down to the present times, the road has been extensively travelled. If there were invaders and plunderers on this grand highway, there were also pious pilgrims and common traders. Sprinkled along the length of the road like milestones to an ancient past are signs of those who traversed it. The Greeks, Mauryans. Scythians, Parthians, Sassanians and Turks all left their mark with a distinctive Mughal and British overlay. This book is a celebration of the Grand Trunk Road and those who left their mark on the history of Pakistan.

About the Author:

Salman Rashid is Pakistani preeminent travel writer and a Fellow of Royal Geographical Society. In his books, the traveller, the story-teller and the historian swap hats at astonishing speed, blending geography, history, ethnography, and indigenous oral and historical traditions. Rashid has been travelling and writing for almost four decades and has contributed to numerous prestigious publications, including hundreds of feature articles to leading English language newspapers of Pakistan. Rashid's books, among the classics of travel, include Deosai: Land of the Giant, The Apricot Road to Yarkand and Prisoner on a Bus. He has also written A Time of Madness, a memoir of the partition of India. From Landi Kotal to Wagah is his eleventh book and the culmination of decades of travelling and exploring along the Grand Trunk Road.

From the Foreword:

From Landi Kotal to Wagah: Cultural Heritage Along the Grand Trunk Road portrays the history and diversity of cultural and religious heritage along the Grand Trunk Road in Pakistan with an acute eye. Salman Rashid, the pre-eminent Pakistani travel writer and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, takes us on a fascinating journey along the Grand Trunk Road, describing the architectural marvels built over millennia and their history, highlighting the diverse cultural, religious and architectural expressions that have helped shape the identity of the people of Pakistan.

The book, unique in its kind, serves to encourage the people and the government of Pakistan to protect and preserve the heritage which marks the ancient landscape of Pakistan. We are confident that From Landi Kotal to Wagah will encourage the tourists to explore the country in depth.