Founded in 1891 by Maulvi Khuda Bakhsh Khan, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library in
Patna is a repository of about 21,000 Oriental manuscripts and three lakhs printed books. Owing to its rich and valued collections, this library was declared an institution of national importance by the Government of India through an act of Parliament in 1969. The library is presently run by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library has been declared a research center by seven universities. It caters to the needs of intellectuals and scholars. Lectures, talks, group discussions and debates are also organized.
Among the collections are Islamic books, Tazkira (biography) and literature on freedom movement and national integration. The manuscripts including palm-leaf collections in Urdu, Persian and Arabic languages carry the arts of Iranian, Mughal, Central Asian, Kashmiri and Rajasthani schools. Some of the rare collections are the oddities such as an inch-wide Quran and varied collections of old and new books from the University of Cordoba, Spain.
