Middle East

Our Middle East collections comprise manuscripts, printed books, newspapers and journals from countries in today's Middle East as well as from Iran and Central Asia from the 5th century AD to the present day.

Collection guides

Arabic collections
Over 100,000 volumes of printed books, periodicals and newspapers; more than 15,000 manuscript works in about 14,000 volumes; and a range of other materials
Persian collections
Over 40,000 volumes of printed books, periodicals and newspapers, more than 11,000 manuscripts, and a range of other materials.
Hebrew collections
Manuscripts copied over 1,000 years ago to the most recent monographs and serials
Judeo-Persian
The British Library has a small but important collection of Judeo-Persian manuscripts and printed books
India Office Records: Resources for Iran
Archival sources for the study of Iran
India Office Records: Afghanistan Resources
Archival resources relating to the modern history of Afghanistan found in the East India Company and India Office Records and Private Papers

View all related guides

Help

Asian & African Studies Reading Room

Find information on the shelves
Access online databases and electronic books and journals
Order collection items to the Reading Room via our catalogues

If you need help, just ask our Information Specialists at the Reference Enquiry desk or contact the Asian & African Studies Reference Team.

We offer free Discovery and 1-2-1 Sessions to help you make the best use of the Library's collections.

You’ll need a Reader Pass

Mon: 10.00 – 17.00
Tue – Sat: 09.30 – 17.00
Sun & English Public Holidays: closed

Opening hours for all Reading Rooms

Blog posts

Call for applications now open

Monday, September 24, 2018

Do you know of any collections that are currently at risk and need preserving? The Endangered Archives Programme is now accepting preliminary applications for the next annual funding round – the deadline for submission of preliminary applications is 12 noon...

‘South Asia Series’, Autumn/Winter 2018

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Asia and African Collections at the British Library (BL) are pleased to announce an exciting line-up of talks in their new 'South Asia Series', October-December 2018, featuring a diverse array of subjects from 'Theosophy and Bengali spirituality' to 'Miyan Himmat...

BL Labs Symposium (2018): Book your place for Mon 12-Nov-2018

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Image taken from page 203 of '[Griffith's new historical description of Cheltenham and its vicinity ... with ... engravings. L.P.]' Posted by Mahendra Mahey and Eleanor Cooper (BL Labs Team) The BL Labs team are pleased to announce that the...

Photographs of Dhofar Province

Thursday, August 16, 2018

An India Office Records file that was recently catalogued by the British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership programme contains a number of photographs showing the biodiversity of what is now the Dhofar Governorate, in the Sultanate of Oman. In 1947, Brian Hartley,...