[12] It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district, Maharashtra and is the largest city in the Marathwada region.

The city is known as 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 tourist destinations like the Ajanta and Ellora caves lying on its outskirts, both of which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1983.

[14] Other tourist attractions include the Aurangabad Caves, Devagiri Fort, Grishneshwar Temple, Jama Mosque, Bibi Ka Maqbara, Himayat Bagh, Panchakki and Salim Ali Lake.

However, Muhammad bin Tughluq reversed his decision in 1334 and the capital was shifted back to Delhi thereafter.

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 1653, Aurangzeb renamed the city as "Aurangabad" and made it the capital of the Deccan region of the Mughal Empire.

Khaḍkī was the original name of the village which was made a capital city by Malik Ambar, the Prime Minister of Murtaza Nizam Shah II, Sultan of Ahmednagar.

With the capture of Devagiri Fort by the imperial troops in 1633, the Nizam Shahi dominions, including Fatehnagar, came under the possession of the Mughals.

[18] In 1653, when Mughal prince Aurangzeb was appointed the Viceroy of the Deccan for the second time, he made Fatehnagar his capital and renamed it Aurangabad.

[20] In 1681, after Aurangzeb's coronation as emperor, he shifted his court from the capital city of Delhi to Aurangabad in order to conduct his military campaigns in the Deccan.

The presence of Mughal elites in the city led to urban development, as numerous public and private buildings were constructed.

[22][23] Though Aurangzeb chose not to reside in the city after 1684, the city retained importance as the primary military outpost of the Mughal Deccan, attracting wealth and turning Aurangabad into a centre of trade; the manufacture of embroidered silks emerged during this period and is still practised in Aurangabad today.

Mughal Aurangabad was also a cultural hub, serving as an important centre of Persian and Urdu literature.

[24][25] The loss of Aurangabad's privileged position led to a period of economic decline; by the beginning of the 19th century, the city had become notably underpopulated, leading to the crippling of its administration, and its buildings were in decay.

Annual mean temperatures range from 17 to 33 °C, with the most comfortable time to visit in the winter – October to February.

The daily maximum temperature in the city often drops to around 22 °C due to the cloud cover and heavy rains.

[44] The entire area is covered by the Deccan Traps lava flows of Upper Cretaceous to Lower Eocene age.

The basaltic lava flows belonging to the Deccan Trap is the only major geological formation occurring in Aurangabad.

The lava flows are individually different in their ability to receive as well as hold water in storage and to transmit it.

The difference in the productivity of groundwater in various flows arises as a result of their inherent physical properties such as porosity and permeability.

The groundwater occurs under water table conditions and is mainly controlled by the extent of its secondary porosity i.e. thickness of weathered rocks and spacing of joints and fractures.

It was elevated to the status of Municipal Corporation from 8 December 1982, and simultaneously including eighteen peripheral villages, making the total area under its jurisdiction to 138.5 km2 extended its limits.

The MIDC created the Waluj and Chikalthana Industrial Areas as part of its efforts, which were quickly purchased.

[56] One of the largest Russian Steel Company NLMK has set up plant in DMIC Shendra phase.

[76] The work of surveys and DPR is also ongoing for high speed rail line from Mumbai to Nagpur, which will have a halt in Aurangabad.

Major long route Aurangabad buses reach Delhi, Jaipur, Gandhinagar and Hyderabad in 2–3 days.

MSRTC buses are also available for all district of Maharashtra and neighbouring State's cities like Indore, Ujjain, Surat, Vadodara, Khandwa, Burhanpur, Khargone, Bhopal.