Mar: खुलदाबाद khuladābāda
‘City of the Exalted’ [Rauza] -City, Maharashtra
From Per: ḵẖuld-makānī, ‘exalted to heaven (title given to deceased emperors, princes etc.), ‘dwelling in Paradise’; and Urd: ābād, ‘city’, ‘settlement’.
Emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb is here as well as the Valley of Saints which is the last resting place of 1,500 Sufi saints. The name comes from Aurangzeb’s post-humous title.
In the 14thC Muhammad bin Tughluq moved his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad and uprooted the population too. Many Sufis went too and settled in the nearby town of Rauza which quickly became a Sufi centre and, more importantly, the final resting place for its saints and other important figures.
For related place names see Indian Place names and Maharashtra place names.
Aurangzeb’s Tomb, Khuldabad Colomen
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