1426Srinagar district is situated in the centre
of Kashmir Valley, is surrounded by five districts.
In the north it is flanked by Kargil and Ganderbal
in the South by Pulwama,in the north-west by Budgam.
The capital city of Srinagar,is located 1585 metres
above sea level. The district with a population of
around 10.94 Lakh souls(2001- census), is sperad
over an area of 294 Sq.Kms.It comprises two tehsils/
towns viz Srinagar North and Srinagar South, one
block (Srinagar), besides 136 Revenue villages.
According to a popular legend which is mentioned in
Kalhana's Rajtaringini Kashmir valley was a vast
lake. Kashyap Rishi drained out the water and made
it habitable. It is said that originally Yakshas,
and Pisacas tribes inhabited the valley at the
higher reaches and did not allow the inhabitants of
the valley to live in peace. King Ashok brought
Budhism to Kashmir which was strenthened by Kanishka.
In 6th century Huns came to rule the valley and
Mihirkul was one of the infamous Hun ruler. The area
attained freedom in 530 AD which was shortlived.
According to Sir Aurel Stein the famous interpretor
of Kalhana the chronicler of Kashmir the city of
Srinagar had big market and mansions made of wood
touching the clouds. Hieun-tsang the famous Chinese
traveller visited Srinagar and has described it his
memoirs.
Various capitals were established by the latter
kings but ultimately the city of Srinagar was
destined to be the capital of the State. These
capitals are now found only in ruins or history.
Some of the famous capitals are Prvaerpora of
Praversen, Prihaspora of Lalitaditya, Jayapida's
Jayapora, Avantivarman's Avantipur and cities of
Kanishkapura and Juskapura.
During muslim rule Sultan Sadar-ud-din founded
Rinchenpur and Ala-ud-din founded Alauddinpura near
Hariparbat Hill. Zainul Abideen founded Nowshera as
the capital while Akbar founded Naagar Nagar and
raised 28ft tall wall around it..
