ancient ruins
Ellora Caves
A stunning complex of 34 rock-cut Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain cave temples, including the monolithic Kailasa temple carved from a single basalt cliff face.
24 km · about 25 min drive
AsiaIndiaMaharashtra
Aurangabad
Maharashtra, India · Asia
About Aurangabad
Aurangabad is worth a stop: 10 minutes from Aurangabad Cantonment, 24km from Ellora Caves.
Aurangabad is in Maharashtra, India, with about 1.2 million people. You drive on the left here. The nearest town is Aurangabad Cantonment, about 5 km away.
Aurangabad (), officially renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the fifth-mostRead more
populous urban area in Maharashtra, after Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik, with a population of 1,175,116.
The city is a major production center of cotton textile and artistic silk fabrics. Several prominent educational institutions, including Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, are located in the city. The city is also a popular tourism hub, with attractions like the Ajanta and Ellora caves lying on its outskirts, both of which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1983, the Aurangabad Caves, Devagiri Fort, Grishneshwar Temple, Jama Mosque, Bibi Ka Maqbara, Himayat Bagh, Panchakki and Salim Ali Lake. Historically, there were 52 gates in Aurangabad, some of them still extant, which have earned Aurangabad the nickname the "City of Gates". In 2019, the Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) became the first greenfield industrial smart city of India under the country's flagship Smart Cities Mission.
Paithan, the imperial capital of the Satavahana dynasty (1st century BCE–2nd century CE), as well as Dēvagirī, the capital of the Yadava dynasty (9th century CE–14th century CE), were located within the boundaries of modern Aurangabad. In 1308, the region was annexed by the Delhi Sultanate during the rule of Sultan Alauddin Khalji. In 1327, the capital of the Delhi Sultanate was shifted from Delhi to Daulatabad (in present-day Aurangabad) during the rule of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq, who ordered the mass relocation of Delhi's population to Daulatabad. However, Muhammad bin Tughluq reversed his decision in 1334, and the capital was shifted back to Delhi. In 1499, Daulatabad became a part of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. In 1610, a new city named Khaḍkī was established at the location of modern Aurangabad to serve as the capital of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate by the Ethiopian military leader Malik Ambar, who was brought to India as a slave but rose to become a popular prime minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. Malik Ambar was succeeded by his son Fateh Khan, who changed the name of the city to Fatehnagar. In 1636, Aurangzeb, who was then the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan region, annexed the city into the Mughal Empire. In 1653, Aurangzeb renamed the city as Aurangabad and made it the capital of the Deccan region. In 1724, the Mughal governor of the Deccan, Nizam Asaf Jah I, seceded from the Mughal Empire and founded his own dynasty. The dynasty established the State of Hyderabad, with their capital initially at Aurangabad, until they transferred it to the city of Hyderabad in 1763. Hyderabad State became a princely state during the British Raj and remained so for 150 years (1798–1948). Until 1956, Aurangabad remained part of Hyderabad State. In 1960, Aurangabad and the larger Marathi-speaking Marathwada region became part of the state of Maharashtra.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Aurangabad?
Within an hour or so of Aurangabad: Ellora Caves (24 km), Kailasa Temple, Ellora (24 km).
Where is Aurangabad?
Aurangabad is in Maharashtra, India, about 5 km from Aurangabad Cantonment.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 1,175,116
- Continent
- Asia
- Country
- India
- Region
- Maharashtra
- Timezone
- Asia/Kolkata
- Coordinates
- 19.8776, 75.3423
Tags
Worth the detour from Aurangabad
2 notable places within an hour's drive.
ancient ruins
Kailasa Temple, Ellora
The largest monolithic rock excavation on Earth: an entire multi-storey Shiva temple carved top-down out of a single basalt cliff in the 8th century, removing an estimated 200,000 tonnes of rock.
24 km · about 25 min drive
When to drive here
Year-round
Tropical latitude: plan around the wet season rather than temperature.
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