One district, two names — what it means for your records
In 2023, Aurangabad district was officially renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The renaming changes signboards, not title:
- Old 7/12s, ferfar entries and sale deeds naming Aurangabad remain fully valid. Do not let anyone tell you an old-name record needs “correction” — it does not.
- New extracts are issued under the new name as portals and registers migrate. During the transition you will see both names, sometimes on the same portal.
- Searching online: pick whichever spelling the dropdown offers — Aurangabad or Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar — it is the same district database underneath.
Search habits show the same split: many people still type 7/12 Aurangabad, satbara Aurangabad or 7/12 utara Aurangabad and find the district that way. Others have moved to the new name — satbara Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar or 7/12 utara Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar — and every one of these queries leads to the same records.
The same renaming applies to the revenue division, since the district headquarters the Aurangabad (Marathwada) division.
Checking the 7/12 online
The steps behind a 7/12 online Aurangabad search and a 7/12 online Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar search are identical — the portal is the same either way:
- Open bhulekh.mahabhumi.gov.in
- Select the Aurangabad / Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division
- Pick 7/12, then the district, your taluka (Aurangabad, Paithan, Gangapur, Vaijapur, Sillod, Kannad and others — 9 in all) and village
- Search by survey/gat number or holder name
- Enter the captcha and view the extract
For a legally valid copy, download the digitally signed 7/12 for ₹15 from digitalsatbara.mahabhumi.gov.in — see the digital satbara walkthrough.
Marathwada context: read the tenure column
The district anchors Marathwada, a largely rain-fed agricultural region along the Godavari basin, with an industrial belt (Waluj, Shendra, and the DMIC-linked Bidkin node) pushing farmland conversion around the city. Two practical checks:
- On rural plots, confirm the tenure/occupancy class and any Hyderabad-era or inam legacy notings in the other-rights column — Marathwada’s records predate the state’s formation and older entries surface in chains of title.
- Around the industrial corridors, verify NA conversion and acquisition notings through the ferfar history before pricing land as “developable”.
Offline: Talathi to Collector
Certified copies come from the village Talathi; mutations and corrections run through the Tahsildar of your taluka; district-level appeals and old record rooms sit with the Collector’s office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) city.
Companion records
Read the 7/12 with the statewide 7/12 guide for column meanings, the ferfar for the change history, and the Bhu Naksha map for boundaries. BhuMe can monitor a survey number in the district — under either name — and alert you when the record changes.