International Museum Day 2023: Largest one-man collection, Salarjung Museum History

The Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III (1889 to 1949) served as Prime Minister of Hyderabad during the Nizam’s rule. He spent an substantial amount of his income, over a period of 35 years, collecting artifacts from all across the world.

After the Nawab died in the year, 1949, the collections were left behind his ancestral palace, Diwan Devdi. The collection were formerly exhibited there as a private museum, named Salar Jung Museum, which was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, on 16th December 1951.

Old timers believe that, the present collection constitutes only half of the original art wealth collected by the Nawab. His employees siphoned off part of it, since the Nawab depended upon his staff to keep a vigil.

In the year, 1968, the museum was shifted to the present location at Dar Ul -Shifa and is administered by a board of trustees with the Governor of Telangana as ex-offico chairperson under the Salar Jung Museum Act of 1961. Few more art pieces were stolen during the shifting of the museum from Dewan Devdi to the present site.

In the year, 2003, the museum has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Mission for Manuscripts and has declared a manuscript conservation center.

in 2006, fire broke out in an auditorium in the museum premises. However, it was quickly extinguished and none of the artifacts were damaged. After the incident, fire safety facilities were upgraded.