85 exhibits

c. 3000 to 1000 BCE

The Valley's best-known prehistoric settlement.

c. 3rd millennium BCE

A second early village site, named after its caves.

c. 6th to 8th century CE

The oldest text about Kashmir's origins, rituals and sacred places.

c. 3rd to 5th century CE

A Buddhist site known for its moulded terracotta tiles.

2nd century CE

The Kushan emperor linked by tradition to Buddhism in Kashmir.

c. 5th to 7th century CE

Some of the oldest surviving manuscripts in South Asia.

8th century

The grandest temple of ancient Kashmir, now a ruin.

8th century

Lalitaditya's capital, now scattered ruins on a plateau.

Reigned c. 724 to 760

The most celebrated Karkota king.

Visited c. 631 to 633

The Chinese pilgrim who described Kashmir in the 7th century.

8th century

Two groups of stone temples in a remote river valley.

c. 6th to 12th century at its height

A temple and centre of learning dedicated to the goddess Sharada.

9th century

Two ruined temples built by King Avantivarman.

Reigned 855 to 883

Founder of the Utpala dynasty and patron of scholars.

Late 9th century

The engineer who reshaped the Valley's rivers.

c. 9th century

One of the best preserved temples of the period.

c. 913 to 921

A small Shiva temple that stood in a pool of water.

Ruled 958 to 1003

The queen who ruled Kashmir for almost half a century.

c. 950 to 1016

Kashmir's most influential philosopher.

12th century

The historian who wrote the River of Kings.

1148 to 1149, continued to 1586

A verse history of Kashmir and one of the oldest histories written in South Asia.

Date disputed

A stone Shiva temple crowning the hill over Srinagar.

Ruled 1320 to 1323

The Ladakhi prince who became Kashmir's first Muslim ruler.

Ruled from 1339

Founder of Kashmir's first long-lasting Muslim dynasty.

14th century

The mystic poet revered by Hindus and Muslims.

1314 to 1384

The Sufi scholar known in Kashmir as Shah-e-Hamadan.

First built 1395

A wooden mosque and shrine honouring Shah-e-Hamadan.

1377 to 1438

Sheikh ul-Alam, founder of the Rishi order.

Shrine of the 15th century, rebuilt after 1995

The shrine of Nund Rishi.

1394 to 1402, rebuilt later

The Valley's great congregational mosque.

Reigned 1420 to 1470

The sultan Kashmiris call the great king.

15th century

A domed brick tomb in a royal graveyard.

15th century

An island built by hand in the middle of Wular Lake.

16th century

The poet remembered as the Nightingale of Kashmir.

Reigned 1579 to 1586

The last independent king of Kashmir.

Shrine of a 16th century saint

The shrine of Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom on Hari Parbat.

Walls 1590s, fort 1808

The hill where Srinagar's faiths and empires meet.

1619

Jahangir's garden of terraces, fountains and water channels.

c. 1633

The largest Mughal garden in Kashmir.

1632

A small garden built around a royal spring.

1650s

Dara Shikoh's terraced retreat, the palace of fairies.

c. 1620

The spring traditionally counted as the source of the Jhelum.

17th century

A spring-fed Mughal garden with rushing cascades.

1623

Nur Jahan's stone mosque on the Jhelum.

Relic since c. 1700, present building 1979

The Valley's holiest shrine, in white marble on Dal Lake.

Emperor 1605 to 1627

The emperor who fell in love with Kashmir.

1577 to 1645

Empress, builder and one of the most powerful women of her age.

1615 to 1659

The scholar prince who built Pari Mahal.

Used from the 16th century

The mountain route the emperors took into the Valley.

c. 1722 to 1772

Founder of the Afghan empire that took Kashmir in 1752.

1774

The first of old Srinagar's bridges, built under Afghan rule.

1780 to 1839

Founder of the Sikh Empire, which ruled Kashmir from 1819.

Governor of Kashmir 1820 to 1821

Ranjit Singh's commander, briefly governor of Kashmir.

Linked to a visit in the early 17th century

A gurdwara remembering the sixth Sikh Guru's visit.

1792 to 1857

Founder of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Maharaja from 1925

The last Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.

Founded 1898

Kashmir's oldest museum.

Present temple early 20th century

The spring temple at the heart of Kashmiri Pandit worship.

From 1824

The palace complex of the Dogra rulers in Jammu.

1887 to 1952

The poet who brought modern themes into Kashmiri verse.

1905 to 1982

Sher-e-Kashmir, the most influential Kashmiri leader of the 20th century.

1949 to 2001

The poet who carried Kashmir into English verse.

1956

The tunnel that kept the Valley connected in winter.

Opened 2025

The highest railway arch bridge in the world.

Timeless

The lake at the centre of Srinagar's life and history.

Timeless

One of the largest freshwater lakes in South Asia.

Timeless

The river that made the Valley habitable.

Timeless

The meadow of flowers, now a ski slope in winter.

Timeless

The village of shepherds in the Lidder valley.

Timeless

The meadow of gold on the old road to Ladakh.

Timeless

Kashmir's own red deer, now endangered.

Timeless

The great plane tree whose leaf became a symbol of Kashmir.

Flourished from the 15th century

The textile that made Kashmir famous around the world.

From the Sultanate era

Painted objects built from layers of paper pulp.

Living tradition

The great multi-course feast of Kashmiri celebrations.

Living tradition

Two teas that belong to every Kashmiri day.

Living tradition

How Kashmir keeps warm in winter.

Recorded from the 14th century

Koshur, the language of the Valley.

From about the 8th century

The script in which Kashmir wrote for a thousand years.

Living tradition

Ceilings built from thousands of small pieces of wood.

Living tradition

Felted wool rugs with bright embroidery.

From the 9th century

A philosophy of the self that began in the Valley.

Grown for centuries

The purple autumn harvest of the karewas.

Houseboats from the 19th century

Life on the water in Srinagar.

Pilgrimage of long standing

A mountain cave shrine and one of Hinduism's great pilgrimages.