AURANGABAD,

AURANGABAD, (19° 54`N, 75° 20`E) is a district town in Maharashtra. It is a railway station on the ManmadKachiguda section of the South Central Railway, 114 km from Manmad towards Nanded. The site was once the capital of the Yadavas ofDevgiri or Deogir in the 12th and 13th centuries; Aurangzib established his headquarters here when he was appointed governor of the four Deccan provinces in AD 1636. When as emperor he came to the Deccan in 1681 (never to return to the north again), he first stayed at Aurangabad, later shifting to Ahmadnagar.

In 1706, Guru Gobind Singh had sent Bhai Daya Singh and Bhai Dharam Singh as his emissaries to the Deccan with his letter, known as the Zafarnamah, addressed to Emperor Aurangzib. The Sikhs halted for a short while at Aurangabad, on their way to Ahmadnagar, where they found that it was almost impossible to see the emperor and deliver to him the letter personally as the Guru had directed. Bhai Daya Singh sent his colleague back to the Guru with a letter seeking his advice. But before Bhai Dharam Singh could rejoin him with further instructions from the Guru.

Bhai Daya Singh had managed to have the letter delivered and had returned to Aurarigabad. The two went back to the Guru, then travelling in Rajasthan. At Aurangabad, Bhai Daya Singh had stayed with a Sikh whose house became a meetingplace for the Guru`s disciples. The place, located in Dhami Mohalla in the interior of the town, is now known as Gurdwara Bhai Daya Singh. The present building was constructed by the local sangat in the 1960`s. The gurdwara is managed by a local committee. Sikh services are held morning and evening and important anniversaries and festivals are observed. The Gurdwara grant/if runs a class for young resident scholars in scripturereading.