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State Central Library
Also known as: Asafia Library
Founded as the Asafia Library, holding rare Arabic, Persian and Urdu manuscripts. The Indo-Saracenic building faces the Musi near the Afzal Gunj bridge.
History & Story
Founded in 1891 by the sixth Nizam as the Asafia Library, this institution holds one of the largest collections of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu manuscripts in South Asia, including royal farmans, Qutb Shahi court records, and unique scholarly texts from the Deccan. The present Indo-Saracenic building was purpose-built in 1936 to house the growing collection. Many of its manuscripts are unique survivals, their content found nowhere else, representing the Deccan's centuries of Islamic intellectual life.
Key Events
1891
Founded as Asafia Library by Nizam VI
1936
Present building constructed to house expanded collection
2015
Digital cataloguing of Persian manuscripts begins
Key People
N
Nizam VI Mahbub Ali Khan
founded the Asafia Library in 1891
N
Nizam VII Osman Ali Khan
funded the current building in 1936
Location & Getting There
Area / Locality: Afzal Gunj
Coordinates: 17.37420° N, 78.47830° E
Access: public