Devagiri is located at a distance of 15 km northwest of Aurangabad, the district headquarters and midway to Ellora group of caves. The original widespread capital city is now mostly unoccupied and has been reduced to a village. Much of its survival depends on the tourists to the old city and the adjacent fort.
The area of the city includes the hill-fortress of Devagiri. It stands on a conical hill, about 200 meters high. Much of the lower slopes of the hill has been cut away by Yadava dynasty rulers to leave 50 meter vertical sides to improve defenses. The fort is a place of extraordinary strength. The only means of access to the summit is by a narrow bridge, with passage for not more than two people abreast, and a long gallery, excavated in the rock, which has for the most part a very gradual upward slope.
About midway along this gallery, the access gallery has steep stairs, the top of which is covered by a grating destined in time of war to form the hearth of a huge fire kept burning by the garrison above.At the summit, and at intervals on the slope, are specimens of massive old cannon facing out over the surrounding countryside. Also at the mid way, there is a cave entrance meant to confuse the enemies.The site had been occupied since at least 100 BCE, and now has remains of Buddhist temples similar to those at Ajanta and Ellora.
Daulatabad also known as Devagiri, is a town which includes the Devagiri-Daulatabad fort It carries the distinction of remaining undefeated in battle. It is a 14th-century fort city in Maharashtra state of India, about 16 kilometres northwest of Aurangabad. The place was originally named Devagiri when it was an important uplands city along caravan routes, but the intervening centuries have reduced it to a village. However it is also considered to be one of the seven wonders of Maharashtra and a developing tourist spot.
The historical triangular fort of Daulatabad was built by first Yadav king Bhilan in 1187.The city is said to have been founded c. 1187 by Bhillama V, a prince who renounced his allegiance to the Chalukyas and established the power of the Yadava dynasty in the west.
Most of the fortification has been constructed under the Bahmanis and the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar.The Mughal Governor of the Deccan under Shah Jahan, captured the fortress in 1632 and imprisoned the Nizam Shahi prince Husain Shah.
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