The stone that described the founding of the museum, on 19 august 1320 (in the Islamicx calender) by Sultan Abdülhamid.

(1320 H. = 1902 AD).
After the museum was founded in the last decades of the Ottoman era, it was reopened twice: in 1923 (after the Turkish War of Independance), housing an archaeological collection, and in 1975 (after the most recent restoration of the medrese/college) as Museum of Turkish & Islamic Arts and Etnography.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Vakıf Abideler ve eski Eserler III’ - Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara 1983
& ‘Bursa - Turquie’ – booklet of the Bursa Müzeleri, 1980.