The present State Central Library known earlier as Asafia Library and then as the Hyderabad State Library was established in February 1891, through the efforts of the late Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk who was the Director of Public Instruction in H.E.H. the Nizam’s Government.

With the growth in the size of the library and increase in the number of readers the old building, now occupied by the General Post Office on Abid Road, was found inadequate for the purpose. Therefore in 1936, the library was shifted to the present imposing building which is on the left bank of the Musi river.

The library has a rich collection of both malluscripts and printed books. The manuscripts are very rare and valuable. Some of them are very old, dating back to the fifth-sixth centuries.

A few of them are unique and generally known to be the only existing copies in the world. Today the State Central Library is considered to be one of the best among the famous manuscript libraries in India. State Archaeological Museum