the great Mauryan king Ashoka is credited with its establishment. With this king came Buddhism to the valley, further propagated by the Kushana Emperor Kanishka.

The modern city of Srinagar lies on the ruins of capitals of many kings, including Pravarasen, Lalitaditya, Jayapida and Avantivarman. It became the capital itself of Jammu & Kashmir under the reign of Maharaja Gulab Singh of the Dogras.
In the 14th century, Islam was introduced to the valley by the Shah-Miri ruler Shams-ud-din and became a Muslim majority town but Hindus were free to practice their faith under later rulers including Zain-ul-Abidin and the Mughals. The Kashmiri Brahmins, known as Pandits, were wealthy landowners and an influential section of society. Srinagar, as also the whole of the valley, was also deeply influenced by Sufism.

While ever subject to upheaval and change, and hankered after by many, Kashmir probably saw the worst of conflict in the latter years of the 20th century with cross-border conflict. While this necessarily led to lessening of tourism, things have been looking up again lately and there has been a resumption of a steady flow of visitors to Kashmir.