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Salar
Jung III
In the mid-19th century, the Nizam of Hyderabad appointed a prime minister to whom was given the title of Salar Jung. Later rulers also selected his son, Salar Jung II, and grandson Salar Jung III, as prime ministers. It was these three men who contributed to what is now called the Salar Jung Collection in this museum.
Mir Yousuf Khan, Salar Jung III, was a passionate collector of art objects. He died in 1949, a couple of years after India become independent, leaving no heirs. On his death, the administration of the collection was entrusted to a special committee that placed the collection on display in the palace of Salar Jung III, turning it into a museum. It was only in 1958 that the collection was denoted to the government of India, and in 1968 the museum was transferred to its current location.
The museum possesses a vast collection of art objects, but only a small portion is on display. There is also an enormous library of rare books and manuscripts. The three Salar Jungs collected objects from Europe, West Asia, the Far East and India. The items were purchased on foreign trips and through dealers.
During the colonial period, many rare items such as the collection of swords, daggers and other antiques were taken away from the country. It is fortunate that some of these art objects have found their way back into this collection. The museum is famous for its European art collections of jade, weapons, textiles and metal ware, which are significant as they provide a glimpse into post-Mughal court life and are suggestive of the grandeur and wealth of rulers in days gone by.
The museum building is itself not the best example of modern Indian architecture, but the collection is very representative of all that was in vogue in the late 19th century among powerful families of Hyderabad. The building is constructed round a courtyard with a verandah leading into the exhibition rooms, on both the ground and first floors.
The first room on the ground floor is devoted to a selection of Salar Jung's personal belongings: their clothes, household goods, books and furniture, along with gifts and photographic documentation of their lives and times. The rest of the ground floor is devoted to Indian arts and crafts.
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